Hourglass
by Kikushi
Summary: When she suddenly finds her life at a standstill, he finds his life beginning to move forward. They are prisoners of their own defenses― he his sand, she her heart. How many grains of sand must fall in the hourglass before time brings them together? Ga/TT
1. Prologue

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_A person's life is just a drop in a bucket  
>A tick of a clock<br>A timed beating of the heart  
>A grain of sand in the hourglass.<em>

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**Hourglass: Prologue**

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He watched as she maneuvered around him in her room, seemingly preoccupied with packing her belongings and what she could still manage to fit inside her very stuffed bag. She was so busy trying to ignore him— or more accurately, his sympathies— that she didn't notice she was trying to stuff a pillow inside the side pocket of her bulging backpack.

He stepped closer to her spot on the floor and noticed that her knees were red from crawling from corner to corner of her room. Her back faced him in the silence. "Tenten," he called softly.

She ignored him.

"Tenten… are you crying?"

She was.

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It seemed like everyone was trying to defend Neji Hyuuga these days. First Lee, then Gai-sensei, Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto… even the Lady Hokage herself. At first they told her that it was the promotion. Of course it would change everything, they told her, but be proud of how much your boyfriend has accomplished!

And she was proud, at first. She did everything she could to support him and show how happy she was for him. She allowed him to train with her longer, even if she was clearly exhausted, and at night she snuck over to his place to privately congratulate him whenever she could. But then they started to see less and less of each other. Days would fly without his return. Pretty soon the days elongated to weeks, and the weeks stretched on for months.

Tenten was not a worrywart, but it was agonizing having someone so close to you, someone who you loved so much, out there— in great danger and mortal peril— gone for months and months and months. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.

But there were other changes than their time apart. It had been really abrupt; one night he told her to go home and refused to share his bed. She was hurt, but she figured that it was probably just due to fatigue, and she told herself that he must've been very tired. She remembered the lonely trek back home, and how confused and hurt she felt as she lay down on her own bed, feeling the loneliest she had ever been in a very long time. She came back the night after and he told her, more firmly this time, that he didn't think it would be wise for her to keep sneaking into his room at night. She laughed at first, thinking that he was joking. After all, it couldn't be that big of a secret— Tenten was sure most of the Hyuugas in the compound already knew about their nighttime trysts— as it had been practically established as a routine in the past year. But he had glowered at her and told her to leave, that he was sorry, and that he'd see her in the morning at their usual training grounds. He practically had to force her out of the window to get her to leave. She didn't speak to him the next day, but he hardly noticed.

Neji became more and more distant as time passed. He never smiled at her anymore or looked at her fondly as he often did. He stopped teasing and joking with her. He began to flinch away from her touches when before he would have been the one to take her hand in his and kiss her until she was breathless, away from the prying eyes of their green-clad teammate and sensei.

But the day he told her he wanted to stop training with her had been her breaking point. Tenten blew up in his face, screaming and crying and, "Oh my God, _why are you doing this to me?_"

There was no sympathy in his eyes as he averted his gaze away from her trembling body. But even he, it seemed, could not bear to see the sight of the person he was mercilessly ripping apart in heart and soul. The person who loved him with her every being.

No one had been sympathetic. In the end, they all defended him.

"Tenten, Neji loves you very much! And although he is doing some very unyouthful things, I am sure that he will soon come back to his senses!"

"Tenten… understand him. Being ANBU is mentally, not just physically, exhausting. Neji has probably seen a lot of terrible things… He's probably just in shock from it all."

"T-Tenten-san… Please excuse Neji-niisan. Please… I-I know that deep down he still cares about you."

"Oh, Tenten, life of an ANBU is busy, you know. You can't expect to have the same of Neji going around like before. Kakashi-sensei said that ANBU experiences can be really traumatizing… Want to go shopping?"

"Maybe he's just playing a little hard-to-get? You know guys— I bet you Neji's just faking it. And PUH-LEAZE, the guy is head over heels for you. He confessed to you first! Why would he ever dump you?"

"It's troublesome, but I can't really say that Neji's not being a complete ass right now. Maybe you should just wait this one out a little bit longer and see what happens. He might still be adjusting."

"Cheer up Tenten! Neji's not that kind of guy! Want me to go smack some sense into him?"

And the least helpful by far had been spoken to her just yesterday…

It was "a simple C-rank mission, perhaps a B," according to Tsunade, and "it's not exactly a solo-mission, though you can look at it that way if you want."

Their new closest ally, Sunagakure, had sent word to the Hokage that they were short on ninjas stationed for border patrol. As soon as Tenten heard this, she had to fight hard not to roll her eyes and groan. If there was one thing Tenten hated the most, it was to be stuck inside a watch-tower day in and day out on guard duty. Every ninja had to do it and there wasn't any other day that Tenten dreaded more than having her name pulled out of the lottery and being called out for guard duty.

Tenten bit her tongue from making a complaint and forced herself to listen to the rest of the mission's briefing. "I am not at liberty to divulge to you the reason as to why Suna's ninjas are so preoccupied, and I doubt that the Kazekage will say anything more regarding the matter…" Tsunade seemed to be stalling a little bit, but then she sighed, seeming to grow weary of her own charade. "Unfortunately, the squad closest to coming back won't reach the village for about a month."

At this, Tenten's mouth fell and she couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "You mean, I have to stay in Sunagakure for a month… on guard duty?" It was all she could do to keep from outright shouting at the blonde woman.

Tsunade's liquid brown gaze was piercing. "Yes. You'll set off tomorrow at dawn."

Inwardly, Tenten was screaming her lungs out in agony and frustration. Why was her life so miserable lately? Outwardly, she kept her features controlled as she sensed Tsunade watching her carefully. The woman obviously knew that Tenten was not thrilled. After all, guard duty seemed to be the bane of every ninja's existence, with the exception of the few lazy ones— silver and spiky black hair flashed briefly through her mind as her attention struggled to return to the situation at hand.

Tenten licked her lips anxiously in an effort to control herself. She could see an obvious defect in the mission that the Hokage had not yet addressed. "But even so, why am I the only one going? Didn't Suna say that they were missing quite a few ninjas, not just one?"

Tsunade heaved another heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, we also do not have many to spare at the moment. I'm sure you've noticed that Teams Seven and Ten have been gone for quite a while now."

It was true, Tenten had noticed. She had been wondering about their whereabouts for quite some time. She missed having her loud friends, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino around to distract her from her thoughts. The village seemed so much smaller and quieter without them running around the streets. She missed Shikamaru's gentle and silent company as well as Choji's comfortable presence… Heck, she even missed Sai.

"And I have plans to send Team Eight out as soon as Team Ten gets back," Tsunade continued, interrupting Tenten from her thoughts. "If all went according to plan, then they should be here in two weeks."

Tenten grew bitter at the thought of missing her friends' return, but kept her mouth shut. Tsunade wasn't done.

"Of course, we also need some teams to stay here for border patrol… But the point is, there is something going on— though I cannot say— and I am confident that you will suffice for the job."

Tsunade's light brown eyes met Tenten's darker ones and she saw the question in them, although the younger girl seemed reluctant to voice it. _Why_, they were asking, _why me?_

Tsunade offered the girl a rare smile. "Who better than Konoha's own infamous 'Weapon's Mistress'?" Tsunade said, referring to Tenten's wide-spread nickname. "Your long-range attacks of weapons can cover three posts."

A compliment coming from the Godaime was unusual, and Tenten knew it. She couldn't help but be proud of herself, if only a little bit. She lowered her gaze and allowed a slight smile on her face.

The rest of the conversation blurred itself in Tenten's mind, and she couldn't quite remember the words Tsunade had said nor could she remember her own. The only thing she could remember about the painful ordeal was the very end; what Tsunade told her burned a hole in her memory.

"It's quite normal for new ANBU members," the Lady Hokage said, shifting through stacks of paperwork. She had just asked Tenten if there was something troubling her mind, and the young girl had all but spilled her guts to the Godaime. "I can't guarantee that he'll ever be the same way, but I'm sure Neji knew that before he decided to try out for ANBU… Look, if you really love him, maybe you should try to give him some space."

She must have been somewhat harsher-than-usual when she said that, because Shizune shot a glare to Tsunade before ushering Tenten out of the office and apologizing profusely on behalf of the Hokage. "Tenten, don't take this the wrong way, but this is why ninjas don't fall in love."

Ninjas don't fall in love.

_Sakura used to love Sasuke. Lee used to love Sakura. Hinata is still in love with Naruto. And just look at Kurenai-sensei! What about them? _Tenten wanted to scream.

Instead she nodded at the older woman and forced a tight smile on her lips. Shizune smiled back. "Oh Tenten, just don't worry so much. Maybe you guys just need some time apart. Think of this mission as a sort of mental vacation. I'm sure that Neji will see just how much he's taking you for granted sometime during the month you're gone."

At this Tenten's mood had brightened, if only slightly. She thanked Shizune, bowing a little, and excused herself to prepare for her mission.

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"Are you crying?"

At his words, Tenten let out a strangled sob.

_Yes, Lee_, she wanted to tell him, but the heavy flow of her tears seemed to prevent her voice from functioning. _I'm crying. Don't you see?_

It was five in the morning and Tenten was ready to leave. It had been more than twelve hours since her meeting with the Lady Hokage, but it had only been nine since Neji had officially broken off their relationship. She hadn't slept at all.

Why had she even gone to him in the first place?

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_The sun was setting, and Tenten felt her feet taking her to the Hyuuga compound as if by instinct. She had already told Lee and Gai about her mission. She wondered how Neji was going to take the news of her being gone for a month._

_His reaction was not one she could have ever foreseen in a million years._

_._

She felt Lee's comforting hand on her shaking shoulders, but she didn't dare turn around to face him. Tenten never cried; and if she did, it was from physical pain rather than emotions. Instead, she gave up on packing the pillow and buried her face into it, letting out all of the accumulated pain of the past year into her growing sobs. Lee rubbed her back soothingly, but even he couldn't find any words to say.

They stayed like that for a while until Tenten lapsed into an eerie silence. He waited for her to recollect herself and in the meantime busied himself with repacking her belongings. He was in the process of removing three pairs of scarves and a flower vase from inside the depths of her bag when she lifted her head up to look at him.

"Oh Lee, why did this happen?" she whispered softly, rubbing at her puffy, swollen eyes. "Is it because of me?"

"What? No! Tenten," Lee turned his attention swiftly to her, his eyes uncharacteristically serious, "It is not you! Don't ever believe that it is! I do not know what is making Neji act like this, but you must not believe that it is your fault!"

She sniffed. "Then why…?" she asked brokenly.

Lee looked suddenly very angry but Tenten knew it wasn't directed at her. "Tenten, please, Neji—"

And Tenten braced herself for his next words. She was sure that he would defend Neji again, as he had previously done so, like everyone had. _Why is everyone trying so hard to keep me in love with Neji_? she thought miserably, though her heart kept breaking at the thought of not being in love with him.

But she didn't expect the words that Lee spoke next.

"—Neji has hurt you so much. I cannot stand to watch this any longer or I may do something to him. Tenten, can't you just forget about him?"

She stared at him in frozen shock. She couldn't believe what Lee was saying anymore than she could believe it was Lee behind those spoken words. This was the Lee who was both Neji and Tenten's best friend, the Lee who respected the former and treasured the latter, the Lee who helped Neji confess to Tenten, the Lee who loved seeing his teammates together as a couple.

His words pierced her heart. _Can't you just forget about him?_

Suddenly the memories of the past twelve months replayed itself in Tenten's mind. All her pain, sorrow, and hurt seemed to double as her realization grew— how long had she been in denial? How long had she told herself that her relationship with Neji would someday return to how it was before?

And as she looked into Lee's somber eyes, Tenten realized that it was the same gaze her friends had been looking at her with, that it was the same gaze Tsunade had given to her when she spoke that bit about Neji, and it was the same gaze Shizune wore when she told her why ninjas don't fall in love.

They weren't defending Neji— they were trying to tell her something without outright saying it, trying to cheer her up in their own ways. She now realized that her friends had not believed a word they were telling her. How long had they known that the relationship wouldn't last? Tenten saw Tsunade and Shizune's faces in her mind's eye. No one had been trying to be mean or inconsiderate of her feelings. They had been warning her of something she refused to be warned about.

_Just how long had she been in denial?_

Tenten couldn't meet Lee's eyes as new tears sprung forth.

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_"Tenten, let's break up." It had been an out-of-the-blue sentence uttered by the Hyuuga prodigy. He didn't seem to be aware that he had just cut her off from mid-re-telling her mission._

_Tenten froze for only a second, her heart quivering. She couldn't believe her ears. It had to be a mistake. It had to be!_

_She ignored him, refusing to believe he ever said anything, and plowed on._

_"N-Neji…" she was surprised to hear her voice trembling so much. So his words _did_ affect her… meaning she hadn't imagined it. But it just couldn't be true… right? Tenten took a deep breath, but her attempt at controlling her voice was futile. "W-Will you come and see me off tomorrow?"_

_He took her gently by the wrist and led her out of his room. Tenten seemed barely aware of her surroundings until the cold night air stung her skin. She blinked and she was standing outside the closed iron gates of the Hyuuga manor. Neji stared at her from the other side._

_His gaze was hard and stony, not a trace of emotion was visible in his pale, white eyes. For a moment, Tenten got the impression that he didn't remember her, didn't recognize her face, didn't know who she was and what role she had played in his life._

_"I'm sorry, Tenten."_

_._

Lee gathered up the newly-sobbing girl in his arms. He felt her pain and it was hurting him to see her so broken. He wished he could help her somehow. He wished he could see her bright smile again, one that he hadn't seen in ages. He wished he could knock some sense into Neji Hyuuga and beat him to a pulp for treating their one favorite kunoichi this way.

Tenten recovered faster this time. She wiped her tears away harshly and stood. Just a little over a year ago, Tenten would have never dreamt of crying her eyes out over a man. But then again, just a little over a year ago she and Neji had been a happy couple.

She grabbed her backpack and zipped it shut, angry that she couldn't seem to get the Hyuuga-jerk out of her mind. She was running late.

She turned to face Lee who was giving her a very concerned look. "I'm okay now," she told him, her voice hoarse. He didn't seem convinced in the slightest but said nothing, which Tenten appreciated. They left her apartment and walked through the deserted village streets. Konoha seemed to be slowly waking up; here and there were sounds of vendors getting their shops ready for the day's business behind closed doors. Babies began to wake and cry. Dogs set about to barking for their breakfast.

Why they reached the village gate, Tenten turned to Lee and gave him a watery smile. He was truly the best friend anyone could ask for. Tenten was grateful for Lee, even though at times he could be a little too much. He had become to her like the brother she never had. Lee returned her smile half-heartedly. It was evident he was still worried about her emotional state.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. When he continued to look concerned, she added, "It's just guard-duty… and the road to Suna isn't all that dangerous. What, don't you have any faith in me?"

Lee's eyes widened comically. He was too innocent for words. "No, of course I have full faith in your abilities Tenten!" he nearly shouted, shocked. Tenten almost felt bad for teasing him. Almost.

She gave him a tight hug. She would miss Lee in her month in Suna. He returned her embrace gently, as if afraid his brute strength would crush her. "Be safe Tenten," he said when they broke apart.

"I will, thanks Lee," she said. Then her eyes softened. "Thanks for seeing me off."

They shared one more smile with each other before Tenten leapt up into the canopy of the forest, both trying hard to ignore the evident absence of a certain missing teammate. She needed to close her heart if she wanted to do this mission properly.

_Alright, Neji. Let's break up._

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_But every drop of water leaves ripples  
>And every second is an unchangeable moment in time<br>Even as the heartbeat measures your life  
>Like each grain of sand in the hourglass<br>"Ashes to ashes, Dust to Dust"_

_You will be reborn._

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End Prologue.


	2. Antediluvian

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_And they told me to stop believing fairytales  
>Because they never come true<br>That they only break dreams and hopes and fantasies  
>And that someday I'll know that too.<em>

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**Hourglass**

**Chapter 1: Antediluvian**

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_The moment Neji's lips left her own, Tenten couldn't help but feel annoyed at the intruder. But then her glazed eyes focused on the doorway and she realized with dread and a sinking feeling who it was._

_It had been a priceless moment, to say the least, when Lee had burst into Tenten's apartment unannounced and unwittingly interrupted a rather intimate moment between his two teammates. At first no one spoke, and the embarrassment between the two teens on the couch grew to be almost palpable in the awkward silence._

_But then Lee gave them what could only be described as a disgustingly sly smile and told them, quite unashamedly, "Aha! Gai-sensei said this would happen soon! And he was wise enough to tell me to keep an eye on you two incase I felt that it would!"_

_His two teammates' jaws dropped but Lee was unaware. His smile was blinding as he reached into the pocket of his spandex jumpsuit. "We bought this for you guys," he said, approaching them casually and handing Neji a small, square, plastic-wrapped item. His voice and expression grew somber. "Use it well, Neji."_

_Neji's face turned very red, whether from embarrassment or sheer fury or both, as he realized what he was holding. Tenten had been in the same state until she averted her eyes from what Neji was holding to look at Lee, who still held an expression of such serious solemnity that a peal of laughter left her lips, unbidden._

_She was mildly aware of Neji jumping off of her and throwing himself agitatedly at the oblivious boy._

"_Neji, what has gotten into you?" their green-clad teammate shrieked, dodging one of the Hyuuga prodigy's attacks. He was being forced to use his incredible speed so as not to receive a lethal blow._

_Behind them, Tenten was clutching her side in merriment, laughing hysterically. Tears were flowing down her red cheeks from laughing so hard._

_The situation was so absurd, but it was what made them forever Team Gai._

_Tenten smiled as her laughter began to subside, the tears of mirth still sliding down her cheeks._

_._

_._

She awoke gently from her sleep to the sight of near-darkness and sighed, staring straight ahead up at the night sky. The stars were very faint tonight and the moon was half-hidden from a thick wisp of cloud.

It was only the second night since her departure from Konoha, but it was also the second time that she had been plagued with horribly painful dreams of the "good old days."

Tenten lifted her hand to rub at her eyes and was startled. She drew back her hand to look at the moisture she found. Her tears had been real, but they were not like the joyous ones in her dream. The throbbing pain in her heart told her that she missed those days, when Neji had still been Neji and they had still been a team... and before the name "ANBU" ever crossed anyone's minds.

Tenten slipped out of her snug and warm sleeping bag and regretted it almost immediately. She shivered in the cool night air, but knew that there was little chance of her lapsing back into sleep. She packed her things quickly into her bag and undid all the traps she set in the little clearing she had chosen as camp. Her eyes lingered only for a second at the marred dirt that had served as her campfire a few hours earlier before dragging her sandal over the ashes and kicking dirt into it in a hasty effort to clean it.

Once Tenten was sure that everything had been organized and put in its place, she set off at her fastest sprint in the direction of Sunagakure.

Her mind wandered back to the dream against her will, and Tenten was forced to ponder upon it sadly. Yes, she told herself, that was all she had left now of those days and from her relationship with Neji. Dreams and memories.

She wondered if those magical moments had ever happened at all. Right now, it all seemed so surreal.

Tenten tried her hardest to keep composed. It would not do well to be so emotional all alone in the forest outside the borders of Konoha, especially at night.

Gritting her teeth, Tenten forced herself to imagine Orochimaru and the Akatsuki hot on her heels and she began to take advantage of the adrenaline that began coursing through her body. She nearly doubled her speed from the almost-suicidal effort.

Absently she wondered whether Lee had ever run this fast without his weights on.

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Tenten knew she set a record when Temari opened the door of the Kazekage's building in her pajamas. The wide, surprised eyes of the sandy-blonde girl looked her over and Tenten had a mental vision of what Temari must be seeing: a savage girl breathing heavily, clutching the stitch in her side, twigs poking out from her very messy hair, clothes slightly ripped and torn, sandals worn, scratches on her arms, face, and legs.

As if sensing what the blonde was about to ask, Tenten forced herself to speak through her wheezing pants, "N-not... not an ambush... just... ran... very... very fast..."

Temari cocked an eyebrow at her and looked as though she wanted to ask more on the subject but decided against it. "The guards reported that they saw what seemed to be like someone ripping up the sand out there," Temari said, amused, "and that it was headed straight for the Kazekage's building. I was curious so I told them to leave it to me, but I never expected it would be you standing outside the door... We weren't expecting you until mid-afternoon of the next day."

Tenten continued to breathe heavily, unable to muster up any energy to speak. Vaguely she wondered what time it was, and concluded that it must have been sometime after midnight but before dawn.

"Well come on in," Temari said, opening the door wider so that Tenten could slip through. The warmth radiating from the room inside attracted Tenten like a moth to a flame. The moment she had let herself stop running, her legs began to ache terribly and her steps were uncontrollably wobbly. Nevertheless, she dragged her legs inside the room to escape the harsh, sandy winds. She could already feel herself regaining her breath and also felt her accelerated heart rate slowing.

When Temari closed the door behind her, Tenten immediately felt comfortably warm and sleepy. In the past two days, she had only gotten a total of about four hours of sleep. She hid a yawn behind her hand as she turned to face the older kunoichi.

Temari seemed to be debating something for a moment. "Well," she began, rubbing the side of her neck in deep thought, "I guess I should take you to Gaara now. He's still awake anyway, and it's not like he's really busy at the moment... since he still thinks he doesn't need to sleep." She mumbled the last part under her breath but Tenten caught it nonetheless.

She nodded sleepily at the blonde. The sudden absence of adrenaline exhausted her. "Okay," Tenten managed to say, fighting back another urge to yawn.

Tenten followed Temari through a long, dimly-lit hallway in companionable silence. Through the years they had been randomly thrown together time and time again and it was because of this that they no longer harbored any awkwardness in each other's company. Memories of the long-ago Chunin Exams now seemed out-of-place in both girls' newly budding friendship.

But while it was true that Tenten had seen rather a lot of Temari and Kankuro over the past few years— and not just in Konoha— the same could not be said for Gaara. Of course, it was understandable for him to remain in his village as he was the Kazekage, after all. In fact, Tenten had not really seen Gaara since... Since those blasted Chunin Exams, when he had hurt Lee badly. She supposed the more recent event where Gaara had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki also counted as a meeting, but then he had been unconscious for the most part. A sudden wave of intimidation washed over her. Now that she thought about it, the only times she had ever really thought of Gaara were times when either Temari or Kankuro came to Konoha and whenever Naruto mentioned him in passing. From what she had been hearing these past few years, Gaara was doing better and was no longer the same murderous freak she had singled him out to be years ago.

A loud rapping noise snapped Tenten out of her thoughts and she realized that they had stopped in front of a tall polished set of heavy-looking stone doors. Temari's knocks were acknowledged by a low, quiet voice within. "Enter."

Tenten only had a second to wonder whether or not she should at least try to make herself look somewhat presentable before Temari pushed her inside the office and closed the door, leaving Tenten alone with the Kazekage. Tenten couldn't bring herself to face him yet and focused instead on steadying her wobbling and aching legs.

"Our Konoha recruit is here a little too early," Temari said from outside the stone doors, her voice sounding somewhat muffled. "I'm going to bed, if that's okay?" she asked.

"Go."

The simple word almost made Tenten jump. She felt chills creeping up her spine to the back of her neck at the sound of his low voice. He sounded so close to her. So _near_.

Tenten listened as Temari's footsteps began to fade away in the hallway and swallowed. The room was very large and very dark; the only source of light came from a far-away fireplace in the corner to her left. She could almost feel his eyes boring holes into her body from the middle of the room, where she knew he sat. She willed herself not to look up at him through her bangs and slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze.

He was looking straight at her, as she had predicted. Again, a mental vision of what she must look like presented itself in her mind. She couldn't understand why she was feeling so intimidated, as it was so very unlike her.

Tenten blamed the fatigue.

He was silent for a long time, and Tenten, on her part, seemed to be unable to come up with words to say. Her hazy mind was fogging up with a desperate need and wanting of rest but Tenten would not allow it. Besides, she wasn't uncomfortable with the silence. She better than anyone had the most experience with the silent-type... Heck, she had dated Neji Hyuuga for almost three years; had been in his team for almost six. Not to mention, she was in good terms with Shino, Sai, and even Sasuke, before he decided to turn rogue-ninja.

She took the time to study the Kazekage, as he was doing the same to her. He was sitting behind a handsomely decorated desk with his arms folded against his chest and was leaning back slightly on his tilted chair, not unlike a bored schoolboy being taught a subject he did not care about inside a classroom he did not want to be in. He had grown— as to be expected— and Tenten noticed that his shocking red hair was also a little bit longer.

His blue-green gaze was piercing, and Tenten couldn't help but think of the Byakugan. Neji had undressed her many times with his gaze, she was sure, but Gaara didn't even have the ability, and yet—

"Why are you here so early?" he asked, finally breaking the silence. For some reason he felt a trickle of unease. It was the first time somebody had ever held his gaze for so long.

Tenten suppressed the urge to sigh at the question. Of course he would ask the one question she really didn't have a decent answer to, she thought.

"I ran very fast."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Okay, Tenten had to admit to herself, it was a pretty lame response but it was the only one she really had. Or at least, the only truth she was willing to share.

Gaara frowned as he stared at her. He could not tell whether she was making fun of him or not and decided to let the topic slide for the time being.

"I assume the Hokage told you why you were sent here?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," she addressed politely. Inwardly, Tenten couldn't help but feel surprised. She had heard that Gaara had changed, but she hadn't had any idea just how drastically. She had been fully expecting nothing but silence between the two of them as soon as Temari had closed the door to his office, but then the logical part of her brought up the fact that Gaara was Kazekage now. Of course he'd have to learn to speak up, even if he didn't necessarily want to. "I am to be put into border patrol for a month... right?"

Her answer transformed into a question as Gaara's brows furrowed. For some reason, Tenten got the impression that he was doing some very quick thinking inside his head.

"For a month," he repeated slowly, as if weighing every word.

Tenten nodded hesitantly. "Uh... Y-yeah...?"

They both seemed to be missing out on something. Just as Tenten was starting to think that Tsunade probably played a very cruel joke on her, Gaara seemed to snap back to his senses.

"Yes," he confirmed flatly and with unmistakable authority. He brought his arms to rest on the desk before him and leaned towards her. "We are short on guards at the moment."

He paused, looking very sure of himself now, and Tenten wondered if she had imagined the slight hesitation in his eyes before. He seemed to be gauging her reaction. When Tenten said nothing, he continued in a soft, quiet voice.

"I'll have Temari show you the north tower in the morning. In the meantime..." He trailed off silently before tearing his gaze away from her and raised a hand.

Before Tenten could process what was happening, there was a flurry of sand and a tall, middle-aged man with a rather severe-looking face appeared next to her and inclined his head to Gaara.

"You called, Kazekage-sama?" His voice was a deep, rumbling sound.

"Isago," Gaara acknowledged. "Please show our Konoha recruit a room inside the building where she can stay."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," he replied, bowing shortly, and turning to face Tenten. "Follow me."

"Uh, sure..." she managed, her eyes flickering briefly to the older man before returning to Gaara. She bowed her head slightly in his direction and he gave a small nod.

"Go."

.

Tenten followed the older man out into the hallway obediently, wincing slightly at the forgotten pain in her legs. Although the hall was still very dimly-lit, Tenten found herself squinting against the sudden brightness. Compared to Gaara's office, it was definitely blinding.

The jonin before her outstretched a hand. "I am Isago."

Tenten hid her surprise and accepted the handshake. "Tenten."

He studied the messy, battered-looking young woman briefly and was immediately curious. He silently wondered why the Kazekage wanted to house her in the immediate building. It wasn't as if they didn't have guest apartments available in separate compounds. He wanted to know what made her so important. After all, with the exception of the messy, savage look, attire, and the roughness of her hands— all of which indicated that the girl was indeed a ninja— there seemed to be nothing very remarkable about her at all.

Isago forced himself not to judge ability based on appearances. He had made the mistake of underestimating an opponent many, many times. No doubt, his own personal hubris.

He led the way to down the dim hallway and couldn't help his curiosity. "Tenten-san, may I ask why you've been recruited by the Kazekage?"

The girl shrugged nonchalantly and he noted her slight limp with rapidly growing interest. "Nothing as exciting as you may think," Tenten mumbled, letting a small degree of bitterness seep into her voice. "I've been assigned guard duty here for a month, since Suna is, apparently, short on people for border patrol."

This surprised him greatly, but he took great care not to let it show on his face. _Since __when __have __we __been __short __on __ninjas? _he thought. Then again, it wasn't as if he knew everything that the Kazekage was doing. He felt a hint of alarm course through him. If the village was indeed short on ninjas to such an extent that they had to request to borrow a temporary guard from another village for such a thing as _border __patrol—_ Well, Isago was not happy. That meant something pretty serious was happening and only the Kazekage, as well those directly involved, knew about it. _Come __to __think __of __it_, Isago thought, _I __haven't __seen __Baki __around __lately..._

But that still didn't explain why this Tenten was being offered a room inside the Kazekage's building.

Isago tried to keep away his habitual curiosity. It was going to the death of him someday, even his comrades had told him so.

"I'm sorry about that," he offered the young girl, as she had abandoned all control and was looking very bitter indeed. He could understand, as guard duty happened to be something he greatly disliked also.

"Ehh," Tenten waved off his apology and glanced up at him from the corner of her eyes. "I think I can handle it... but it would sure be nice if someone told me what all this shortage is about."

Isago was none the wiser in the subject. He shook his head slowly to indicate this, to the dismay of Tenten. She heaved a loud sigh. "Oh well."

They had reached a fork in the long hallway and there were three doors before her that Tenten was sure led to more dark hallways. Beside her, Isago had come to a complete halt. The room order, he knew, was based on the sand siblings' ages. _Shit_, he thought, fighting the urge to scratch his head, _If I __remember __correctly, __Gaara-sama's __room __is __in __the __left __hallway, so __Kankuro-san's __must __be __in __the __middle __and __Temari-san's __must __be __in __the __right… Right?_

"Uh, this way Tenten-san," he said abruptly, opening the door to the right. Tenten was not disappointed in her assumption. The door did lead to another hallway, except this one was much, much shorter and contained only four doors, nothing more.

They stood silently for a moment while Isago pondered his chances. He dismissed the option of knocking on each door so as not to incur the wrath of a sleep-deprived Temari. He had forgotten exactly which room her's had been, but seeing as he had a one in four chance...

Taking a deep breath, Isago motioned Tenten towards the far-left door and slowly turned the knob to open it...

It was empty. Isago mentally breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Here you are, Tenten-san," he said, acknowledging the weary girl's heartfelt thanks. He watched her fall face-first into the bed before they exchanged hasty farewells and excused himself. He needed to find a gossip buddy.

.

It was four in the morning, exactly two and a half hours since Tenten's arrival.

Gaara's soft footsteps made virtually no noise as he walked slowly to his chambers. He knew that he would never get used to the idea of sleep.

He looked at the blue folder in his hands in deep thought. He had been reading the report over and over again for the past few days but still didn't know what to make of it. Lost in his thoughts, his feet automatically took him to his room, and his hand automatically reached for the door knob.

"Nnnggh..."

Gaara froze mid-way of opening his door. He peered inside into the darkness but knew better; the noise had come from the room adjacent. He turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees to face the door directly opposite his own and felt a slight irritation growing inside him.

_No... Isago is not stupid enough..._

Without his bidding, his arm stretched forward and he found himself inside the room, staring down at the girl who seemed to have fallen asleep immediately upon hitting the mattress. She was still in the attire he had seen her in, complete with twigs in her hair and untreated bruises and scratches all over her body.

_That __fool_, Gaara thought vaguely, his irritation fading as mild interest took over. _I __thought __I __told __him __not __to __put __guests __in __this __hallway..._

"_...Nnrghghhh..."_

Her muffled moan put him at a loss. _What __is __she __doing?_

Gaara watched as Tenten turned over on her back, her expression one of distress. Her eyes remained closed and Gaara knew that she was still asleep. A distant word he learned in the days of Yashamaru flashed in his memory.

Could it be that Tenten was having a... a... what was it... a nightmare?

He fought the urge to shake her awake.

_If __this __is __what __awaits __me __in __sleep, __then __I __am __better __off __awake,_ Gaara thought, feeling a slight helplessness in watching as tears fell from Tenten's closed eyelids. He somehow wished he could see what it was that was making her cry. _And __subject __it __to __my __Sand __Binding __Coffin._

"_...Help...me..._"

Her desperate tone almost startled him and he waited for a while to prove that she was still asleep. Tenten's silent crying increased and Gaara felt something akin to slight panic.

_I __am __never __going __to __sleep, _he silently vowed.

He watched as his hand reached her face without his permission, and his fingertips brushed lightly at a wet trail on her cheek. He wondered what would happen if she cried all night without knowing.

Would she wake up to a flood of tears?

He left her room to ponder this and knew that he would lie awake for a long, long time.

Tenten woke the next morning with no re-collection of the dream ever happening.

.

.

.

_But no one can make me a non-believer  
>Of this twisted little fairytale<br>Where hurt, deceit, and lies  
>Become the great Hero's demise.<em>

_._

_._

End Chapter 1.


	3. Apocryphal

.

.

_And nobody told her, nobody told her  
>That the war was already over<br>So she raised her sword and kept fighting  
>Fighting for the land that left her to die<em>

.

.

**Hourglass**

**Chapter 2: ****Apocryphal**

.

.

Tenten opened her eyes groggily and was assaulted by blinding brightness. It took her a few seconds to remember that she was in Suna, and her mind automatically replayed the events of the night before. She had run like the devil was after her, caused an alarm at the border, met up with Temari, and reported to Gaara. Yawning, Tenten stretched out her hands and legs, trying to shake out the soreness she felt all over her body. She fought the urge to slap herself for her stupidity.

Tenten sat up and rubbed her eyes. She noted disapprovingly that she was still in her shinobi uniform and that she was still a mess. A mess that had probably been taken to new heights in her sleep. _I need to get it together_, she thought, standing up and surveying her surroundings. She was in a big room. It was as big as her entire apartment― kitchen, living room and all. The bed itself was bigger than her entire bathroom and Tenten thought that said enough about the place. There was a tall dresser with drawers in the right corner of the room, facing a full-length mirror standing against the opposite wall. The mirror was standing next to the doorway that led out into the hallway. There was a fireplace in the left corner, surrounded by two big, comfortable-looking armchairs. The bed was in the center, opposite a big set of windows that faced the direction of the rising sun. There was another door beside the bed to the left which Tenten assumed to be the bathroom.

She had never been inside a room so luxurious. The only thing Tenten found somewhat odd was the cold, rough, hard floor. It seemed to be made up of solidified sand. _Probably a sand village thing_, she thought as she made her way into the bathroom.

.

Tenten was digging through her backpack in frustration, covered only in a towel and looking for something to wear. _Why the hell did I pack all this stuff? _she thought angrily, pulling out a stuffed panda bear that Neji had given her two years ago and a broken music box. She made a mental note to thank Lee for taking out as much of the useless stuff as he could before she went all mental-patient on him. Tenten heaved up her bag and turned it over, spilling its contents onto her bed. She repacked the necessities, mainly her sleeping bag, extra scrolls, bandages, and first-aid kit before zipping up the bag and shoving it unceremoniously under her bed. She began to sort out what was left into four piles: junk, not junk, useless clothes, and useful clothes.

_Panda bear, junk… Music box, junk… gloves, useless… extra hair ties, definitely not junk… underwear, extremely useful…_

When she was finished sorting everything out, she opened the dresser and all of the drawers before walking back to the bed and messily dropping each sorted pile into their different compartments. She stuffed all of the useless items― the stuffed animal, music box, make-up, books, etc.― down at the very bottom drawer and the useless clothing― a formal dress, a bikini, winter wear, etc.― in the drawer above it.

_I had no idea I was so distracted_, Tenten mused, surveying the two piles of what she'd deemed "useful" things left on her bed. In the end she chose to wear her black shorts― thank goodness she brought them― and a white cami under an orange sleeveless hoodie. She had been debating as to whether or not she should wear her extra shinobi outfit, but then decided that the long pants and sleeves may become too much considering the blistering Suna heat. Not to mention, she'd be stuck inside what was sure to be a sweltering hot watch tower all day. Tenten put on her thigh holsters for her two small scrolls and slung the big one over her back. She had a fleeting image of Gaara's sand gourd and noted the odd similarity in which they carried their weapons.

Tenten was busy putting up her nearly-dry hair into its customary odango when the sound of light footsteps caught her attention. Her trained ears had picked up on the silent sound and she knew immediately it was headed for her room. Tenten walked up to the full-length mirror and studied her reflection. She didn't look like a mess anymore; that was a plus. She held back from performing a girlish twist in front of the mirror. Tenten had always wanted to wear her current outfit in Konoha during the summer but resisted since she didn't want to look like Naruto's twin.

By the time Tenten had decided to forego wearing her forehead protector, the footsteps had reached her door and stopped, followed by two rapid knocks. She hastened to open it and was not surprised to see a tall, sandy-blonde girl in familiar shinobi gear standing before her.

"Wow. You clean up nice," Temari teased, a slight grin on her lips. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you kidnapped that animal from last night."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks," she replied dryly.

The blonde smirked. "Come on, I'll show you around. You'll be staying here for a month, after all."

Tenten closed the door behind her, adjusting the strap of her big scroll. "So which one of these three rooms is yours?" Tenten asked off-handedly. She didn't really care, but thought that it would probably be useful to know for future reference.

Temari stopped walking all of a sudden. "Actually, I was wondering about that," she mused, turning to face the brunette.

"Huh? You don't know which room is your own?" Tenten asked in disbelief.

"No, dummy," said Temari, ignoring the glare she was receiving, "I meant that it's really strange you were given a room in here. I was expecting you to be roomed next to me, not Gaara."

It was Tenten's turn to still. "Wait…" she said slowly, "I could've sworn you just said that―"

"Yeah, Gaara's room is that one in front of yours," Temari cut in, pointing to it. "I'm guessing whoever brought you here was a real idiot."

"Wait," Tenten exclaimed nervously, "I'll just repack my stuff and you can switch me into another room right?"

"Why?"

Both girls turned their heads to the owner of the low voice and Temari dropped her hand immediately. The door to his room was open by a margin and Gaara was staring directly at Tenten from behind it. She bit her lip. _Oops…_

"W-well," she stammered, not really knowing what to say. The same familiar wave of intimidation from the night before was back. She had blamed it on the fatigue then, but there was no excuse for it now. Still, Tenten refused to back down from his gaze. She stared right back at him and decided with all her might that she was going to answer the question instead of just standing there like an incoherent idiot.

"Um, Temari implied that you might not like it if I stayed here," she responded hastily. It sounded like an excuse.

Temari's eyes widened at the sound of her name and she rounded on the younger girl. "Now wait a minute―!"

"You can stay there," Gaara said, stepping out of his room and closing the door behind him. It was a simple phrase, but Tenten felt like he was issuing an order. All she could do was nod and mutter a short thanks. Both she and Temari watched as he walked past them and out of the hallway, no doubt to return to his office.

When he was gone, Temari rubbed her neck and frowned. "Well, that was unexpected…"

"It was," said Tenten mildly, placing her hands on her hips. "He really has changed, hasn't he?"

Temari gave her a genuine smile. "Yes, for the better… Now come on, you have guard duty to get to."

Tenten's face fell and her demeanor changed almost immediately. "Can't you just kill me instead?" she pleaded, already tortured by the idea of sitting around on her ass doing nothing for hours.

"Are you asking for a replay of what happened during the Chunin Exams?" teased Temari, leading the way out.

Tenten's face heated. "Hey! I'm stronger now you know― I bet I could kick your ass!"

"Yeah, whatever."

They bickered throughout the building and all the way to the north tower.

.

.

It was as every bit boring as she imagined it would be. Tenten sat back on her chair atop the north tower and sighed. It was a tall, narrow, circular structure, about twelve feet in diameter and completely roof-less. Temari had given her the schedule; for the first half of the month, Tenten was to be stationed at the north tower from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon and for the second half of the month, she would be switching to the west tower for the graveyard shift, which was from twelve in the morning to six in the morning.

Tenten groaned loudly. "WHY ME?" she yelled, comforted by the knowledge that there was absolutely nobody in her immediate vicinity. At least in Konoha there had been two to a tower, which meant that there was company and someone to actually talk to. But _this_… _this_was completely torture to Tenten. Not only was she by her lonesome, but she was cooped up in a small, cramped space which meant that there was no chance of passing the time by training.

_Well this technically proves it_, she thought sourly, _Suna really is short on ninjas…_

She stood up and began to do thirty sets of push-ups for what seemed like the twelfth time. She was really starting to feel like Lee. A sudden thought crossed her mind and she bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

_Should I…?_ she thought, hesitating. She looked all around her to confirm that she was alone. _Heck, there's no one to witness this anyway…_

Tenten took a deep breath and proclaimed in her loudest, most Lee-ish voice, "GAI-SENSEI! I shall do three hundred push-ups and if I fail, I shall run five hundred laps around the village!"

"Isn't that overdoing it?"

"AH―!" Tenten yelped, scrambling up to her feet. She turned around to face a familiar puppet, and behind it stood Kankuro. He was grinning at her, face paint and all.

"Are you on guard duty or what?" he joked, laughing.

"Shut up!" Tenten said huffily, turning red partly from embarrassment and partly from anger at being caught unaware. "Hiding your presence behind a puppet, of course I didn't detect you!"

"No, no, don't let me interrupt your interesting training…"

Tenten glared. "What do you want?"

Kankuro smirked. "Hey, chill out. I just got back from a mission and Temari told me that you were here so I decided to stop by. I even brought you some lunch, see?"

He held out a bag as a peace offering and Tenten's expression softened. "Oh, fine. Any company is good company at this point. Guess I can't complain."

"Geez… lighten up, will you…"

He put the bag down and they sat around it, rummaging inside for their lunch. They ate in comfortable silence before Tenten let curiosity get the better of her. "So what kind of mission were you on?" she asked casually, bringing her second sandwich up to her lips.

Kankuro shrugged, not seeming too interested in the topic. "Eh. You know. Basic intel-gathering stuff."

Tenten plowed on determinedly. "So why is Suna short on ninjas?"

At this, Kankuro raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Where'd you get that from?"

"I'm here from another village to do guard duty. For a month," Tenten deadpanned.

The puppet-master scratched his head. "Yeah, that's a valid point… I wonder myself…"

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him, trying to detect a lie. She was sorely disappointed to see utter confusion on his face. "I guess only the Kazekage knows," she said with a sigh, lowering her body to lie on the hard floor of the tower. She watched the clouds drifting slowly and wondered if Shikamaru was doing the same somewhere out there… wherever he was at the moment.

"Maybe I'll ask Gaara," Kankuro said, pulling out a flask of juice and drinking straight from it. He offered it to Tenten and she gratefully accepted. The Suna heat was no joke. "But didn't your Hokage tell you?"

Tenten shook her head. "Nope, nothing. Something's going on, and I really want to know what."

"Hell, I would too if I had to do guard duty for a month."

They lapsed into a companionable silence before another issue popped up in Tenten's mind. "Gaara, no, the Kazekage sure has changed much, huh?"

"…Yeah…"

Tenten turned her head lazily to watch the older boy. He too had decided to lie down and watch the clouds with her. "You know, there was a time when he never even considered looking at me as a brother… But now― I don't know how to explain it exactly…"

"Now it's like he can't get enough?" suggested Tenten.

Kankuro snickered. "Nah, not exactly, but I guess― I guess it's like he's trying to turn back time to make up for missing out on it, you know?"

She turned her head back to the sky and was silent for a while. "He…" Tenten hesitated slightly before continuing. She didn't know why she felt the need to admit this, and to Kankuro of all people. "He scares me a little."

She saw the puppet-master sitting up from the corner of her eye and bit her lip. "It's not about his past or that I think he'll hurt me. Hmmm… I can't actually explain this too clearly either…" she trailed off, hoping to end it there, but she could feel Kankuro's eyes on her, waiting for her to continue.

"It's like when he looks at me, he can see everything that I'm made of."

Tenten blinked, surprised. _Where did that come from? _she wondered. The words had burst out of her mouth without her really thinking about them. She didn't even know she had an answer until she spoke it just now.

She chanced a glance at the older boy and found his face to be relaxed. "Well, I guess that's understandable. I never thought myself that Gaara could actually be the kind to understand people's pain… but then again, maybe it's that Uzumaki kid who rubbed off on him."

Tenten smiled at the mention of Naruto. He'd already influenced so many people; Neji, Lee, Hinata, Gaara, Sakura… the list was never-ending. "Naruto can really make his speeches."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Kankuro, smirking, "The kid should make a book."

Tenten laughed. "Right? Anyway, how have you been? I don't think I've seen you in years."

It was Kankuro's turn to laugh. "You only ask me this now? Interrogation first, greetings second huh?"

"Pretty much."

"Well you know, this and that," said Kankuro off-handedly. "I mean, a lot has happened, right? It's been both calmer and busier at the same time after that war."

Tenten frowned, not knowing which war he was referring to that was over. As far as Tenten was concerned, the Akatsuki was far from finished. "Which war are you talking about?"

Kankuro looked equally confused now. "What are _you_ talking about?"

Tenten opened her mouth to retort, when a strong gust of wind alerted them both to another presence. They sat up and whirled around to find Temari standing casually on the edge of the tower, her hands on her hips. "Kankuro, Gaara wants to see you for a moment," she said without preamble.

"Ah…"

Tenten watched with disappointment as Kankuro cleaned up their lunch and stowed his puppet under his arm. He stood and smiled down at Tenten. "I guess I should go see what he wants. Maybe I'll ask him about that ninja shortage for you. See ya!"

"Uh, bye―"

He leaped off the side of the building and bounded off in a sprint. Temari was about to follow when Tenten stood and whined, "Temari, can't you keep me company for a little while? It's so boring!"

The blonde smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Tenten. He wants to see me too. Something urgent, he said. I'll pick you up later."

Tenten watched as the older girl followed her brother's lead and groaned.

"Great… Fantastic… And I still have three more hours of wasting my life away before I'm free."

_And that's just for today_, her inner mocked, _You still have twenty-nine days to go, sweetie._

Tenten fought the urge to scream.

.

"…Eight-hundred-ninety-six… eight-hundred-ninety-seven… eight-hundred-ninety-eight… eight-hundred-ninety-nine…. nine-hundred…" Tenten was counting with a flourish.

For a lack of anything better to do, she had summoned out her weapons little by little from the big scroll and re-arranged them, polished them, put them in alphabetical order, preference order, and height order. Presently, she was counting all of the kunai she had in the big scroll and little scrolls combined. There was more than an hour left in her shift and she was _dying_.

_What I'd give to perform my Heavenly Chain of Destruction technique_, Tenten mused, fighting the urge to stretch out and accidentally injure herself. The stupid tower was not big enough to accommodate her entire weapon supply. _I deserve a big freaking medal when this stupid mission is over…_

Tenten sighed heavily. She knew that she was sighing a lot lately, but it was a necessity given her current situation. "Why does my life suck?" she moaned, leaning to look out of tower gloomily. The ground was six hundred feet below her, and Tenten had a weird, sickening desire to know how it would feel if she were to fall from her current perch.

_Ah, suicidal already, Ten-chan? _came her inner.

_Shut up, bitch, _Tenten thought, feeling thoroughly insane. She really was going crazy from doing this job.

Tenten picked up a kunai and lazily tossed it at the ground below her. She watched as it fell and hit solidly at the visible crack she had aimed at. Tenten picked up another kunai, her mind wandering to the sand siblings.

_I wonder what was so urgent…_she mused. Tenten hated to be kept in the dark. If there was one thing she absolutely despised more than anything else, it was not knowing something that everyone else knew about. Well, that and someone lying to her. She hated lies and people who spout them. She just could not stand it… especially when the liar happened to be someone she cared about very much.

Long brown hair and pale white-eyes flashed in her memory and Tenten closed her eyes at the painful tugging in her chest.

_Oh, Neji… just when did we drift apart?_

Even as she asked herself this question, another memory was rapidly floating up to the surface and Tenten allowed herself to indulge the flashback.

.

_Where… am I?_

_That was her first thought._

_Her eyelids were heavy― so heavy― she couldn't understand why she was having so much trouble opening them. She could feel her arms at her sides and tried to move them. They felt heavy also._

_As her blurry vision cleared, Tenten found herself in a dark room that was not her own, lying in a hard bed that was also not her own. Her mind was sluggish, and she knew immediately that she was under the influence of drugs because everything was so hazy. It would explain why it was so damn difficult to think and move and see and hear._

_A faint beeping noise made itself known to her, but Tenten couldn't move her head to see what it was. It took her a few minutes to finally open her eyes fully, but the battle of keeping them open waged on. There was a window to the left of her, and underneath the window was a bedstead full of flowers. It seemed to be around five or six in the morning, because the dark was getting lighter and lighter. Tenten recognized it at once as the start of a brand new day._

_Her mind was slowly waking up with her senses. Once more, Tenten tried to move her arms with very little success. Anger and sheer strength of will forced Tenten to keep trying. She wanted to know what the hell was going on. Was she in some kind of jutsu? Genjustu, perhaps?_

_But no… if that were so, then where was her attacker?_

_Tenten struggled some more until she felt her fingers twitch. The strenuous effort almost knocked her out unconscious but she would not allow it. Tenten was only vaguely aware of some kind of loud alarm that had been triggered upon the slight movement as she tried once more to move the entire length of her arms. Was this some kind of enemy trap? Did they put some kind of jutsu on her to alert them when she woke up?_

_Her eyelids were desperately trying to close again, but Tenten fought against them. She needed to know where the hell she was―_

_Suddenly there was a flash of long blonde hair at her side. Tsunade-sama! Finally, Tenten knew where she was. How could she not have known? Of course that's where she'd be― the Konoha Hospital._

_The flood of memories came back to her in a single, sudden burst― Team Guy had been on a mission, they had been ambushed and captured. Neji and Gai-sensei found a way to escape, and then―_

_Then they were running away, and she had been at the rear, as usual. She turned to look back at the enemy just in time to see the leader throw something in her direction―_

_She was getting ready to leap out of the way, when she realized that Neji was running directly in front of her. Tenten immediately knew two things; one, there was no way in hell she'd move, because two, the aim of the weapon coincided with Neji's blind spot. She remembered closing her eyes and readying herself for the blow―_

_She was back at the hospital again and there was another person with Tsunade-sama now._

_But all of a sudden Tenten had no more strength to fight her eyelids from closing, and so she willfully succumbed to the exhaustion._

.

She was sitting alone with her weapons under the blistering Suna heat.

Tenten frowned as she pulled her mind away from her thoughts. She hated to remember that memory of waking up in the hospital a year ago. Tsunade had told her that she'd been asleep for almost two whole days. Everything about the memory gave her chills somehow.

_But wait…_ thought Tenten, _Could it be that Neji's acting this way because of that incident? Did he blame himself for what happened to me? Is that why he's doing this?_

She had thought of this theory numerous times and had even confronted Neji directly about it. It was just so like him to do so.

But no matter what theory she came up with for their floundering relationship, his answer was always the same; _"No Tenten, that's not it."_

Tenten was not convinced. Their relationship had never been the same afterwards. She was completely positive that Neji's distance stemmed from not being able to protect her― he blamed himself for every little thing that happened to her― and that his ANBU obsession was most likely fueled by his desire to become stronger. Tenten admired that about him; she'd always had.

With a wilting feeling, Tenten realized that she still had hope. Her very last hope came from Shizune's comforting words.

"_Maybe you guys just need some time apart. Think of this mission as a sort of mental vacation. I'm sure that Neji will see just how much he's taking you for granted sometime during the month you're gone_."

Yes, she still had hope, and Tenten absolutely hated herself for it. _Even after all he's done to me this past year… he's treated me like crap..._

Tenten balled her fists in anger, but gasped and loosened her grip at the unknown pain. There was a clatter of metal dropping to the floor. She brought up her blood-soaked hand to her face and was surprised to find a large, angry gash across her open palm.

_What kind of idiot forgets that she's holding a kunai?_ the evil inner mocked.

_Oh God, shut up, please_, Tenten thought, whether to her inner or just to her sanity in general, she wasn't sure. How was it that even when Neji wasn't around physically, he could still hurt her? Tenten glared at the oozing gash and cursed her lack of bandages. She was probably the only person in recorded history who had suffered accidental self-inflicted damage during guard duty. That in itself was worthy enough to place her a spot in the top five bumble-head ninjas of the year.

She was just about to wipe the blood off on the back of one of her scrolls when a hand full of bandages was thrust under her nose. "Here."

A low, quiet voice. Tenten's eyes followed the hand to its arm, and the arm to the shoulder, neck, then face.

Blue-green eyes. Shocking red hair.

Gaara.

"Gaa― I mean, Kazekage-sama," Tenten hastened to do a little bow, forcing herself not to jump out of her wits and scream. "What brings you out here?"

He studied her face. "I have been here for a long, long time."

Tenten froze. How long had she been daydreaming? And what was worse― the Kazekage himself had arrived to see her completely out of it, and completely not doing what she was supposed to be doing, which was watching the border. Even more, Gaara had said "long, long time." Not only had be been standing there for a "long time," but he'd been standing there for a "long, long time," and Tenten knew that the repetition of the word "long" would not have been necessary for the quiet Kazekage to use unless he had indeed been standing there for a "long, long time." Tenten bit her lip and wondered if he was going to reprimand her. Would Gaara really send her back to her village? Everyone would know that she'd been a failure. At guard duty, no less.

She was thinking too much about this. But really, didn't she want to be free from this torture anyway?

"Oh, I-I see…" she stammered awkwardly. _That's great, Tenten, that's real great. Nothing like smooth talking to soften him up._

_Shut up!_

"Here," Gaara repeated, still holding out the bandages. Tenten took them slowly from his hands and bowed her head nervously.

"Thanks…"

He watched as she wrapped them around her bloody palm before turning away and leaning slightly out of the tower to look down at the ground below. Tenten followed his gaze and gasped, her heart sinking.

There, in perfect kanji, was the word "Ai" written out in a big, bold, kunai formation. Tenten turned her head to look over her shoulder and wanted to die when she saw that more than half of her hundreds of kunai had disappeared― proof that it was her own unconscious doing. Great, not only had the Kazekage witnessed her daydreaming, but he had also witnessed her playing with kunai. She wanted to throw herself down the stupid tower.

_What kind of idiot would spell words with kunai anyway?_ her inner sneered snidely. _Actually, what kind of moron would do something and not even be aware of it?_

Tenten could not bring herself to face Gaara, knowing that the very same kanji was written on the left side of his forehead. She could feel her face burning― and it wasn't because of the heat.

_Out of all the words… Out of all the words I could've chosen… Why does it have to be that one?_

Gaara allowed her to indulge in deep mental anguish for a while, saying nothing for the longest time. Tenten was in the middle of mentally writing out her entire list of "other words she could've chosen instead" when he decided to speak.

"Your shift ended half an hour ago…"

Tenten's head snapped up against her will to look at him, uncomprehending. _Hold on_, she thought, _did he just say that my shift ended half an hour ago?_ It took a few seconds for Tenten to process his words and confirm what he said. She looked at the sky. The sun had moved. Her jaw dropped.

"Wait… You mean to say… that I was here _for an extra half hour?_" Tenten had not meant to end the sentence with a shriek, but she was so angry with herself that she was seriously thinking about walking barefoot all over her sharp, pointy weapons.

Gaara's reaction was no reaction, which wasn't surprising. He turned away from her. "It seems you were preoccupied."

At this, Tenten blushed and inclined her head in shame. "I am sorry, Kazekage-sama. It will not happen again."

He shook his head, as if to say that he didn't care. They lapsed into another awkward silence and Tenten took the opportunity to clean up her mess. She leaned out of the tower and stretched out her hands, sending chakra strings to pull the kunai out from the ground below her and shooting them back up to where she was standing. When she pulled the last of them up, she began rapidly dumping them back inside her scrolls. All this time, Gaara stood and watched her.

Tenten placed her little scrolls back inside her thigh holsters and took her time heaving up the big one. She knew that she was just stalling to avoid another weird silence she didn't know how to fill once she was all packed up and ready.

Thankfully, he decided to speak again and Tenten suppressed the urge to sigh with relief. "Do you know why you are here?"

So he was going to lecture her, she thought with dismay. "Yes, Kazekage-sama," Tenten replied in her most subdued tone, "I am here to watch over your borders."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her. Tenten flushed. "And I'm very, very sorry for not doing my job," she added.

"I sent Temari and Kankuro to Konoha."

Tenten blinked at the sudden, random topic change. "You sent― huh? Why?"

"So I am picking you up in Temari's place," he continued, ignoring her question.

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him, no longer caring if she was being rude. There was definitely something going on that she didn't know about. She could just feel it. What the hell was going on? Suna was short on ninjas, Konoha was short on ninjas, yet both villages kept sending ninjas back and forth to one another… and what about that war Kankuro was talking about earlier?

However, Tenten knew better than to ask. Instead, she settled on saying stiffly, "It's not necessary, Kazekage-sama. I could've found the compound myself."

Now it was his turn to narrow his eyes. Okay, so maybe she was being a bit more than rude. But still― Tenten hated being in the dark. She couldn't stand it.

"While you are in Suna, you are my responsibility," he deadpanned. His voice was the usual, low, quiet sound, but there was a touch of coldness in it that made Tenten want to shiver despite the blazing heat.

They had a silent staring competition before Tenten relented and lowered her gaze with a very reluctant, "Yes, Kazekage-sama."

She kept pulling faces at his back as he led the way out of the watch tower.

_That doesn't explain why you couldn't have just sent one of your subordinates to get me._

.

.

The darkness was falling rapidly as they ran through the thicket of the forest, just having crossed the border where sand and land met. Kankuro was lagging slightly behind Temari by two branches and he struggled to increase his speed.

"Geez, what's the hurry for?" Kankuro barked at his sister.

"Gaara said to hurry," was the only reply from the blonde kunoichi.

"Well, yeah, but still―"

"Just keep the mission in your head!"

Kankuro glared at her back. She could get so worked up sometimes. His mind wandered to the current mission at hand as he thought about the meeting he had had with his brother and sister a few hours earlier.

.

_"Go to Konoha."_

_It was a simple command, but there seemed to be no reason behind it. The Kazekage sat behind his desk; his gloomy office was shut away from any sunlight by the black curtains shielding the windows._

_"Why?"_

_"What for?"_

_Kankuro and Temari exchanged communicative glances but kept silent. They stared patiently at their younger brother, but he seemed lost in his thoughts. There was a blue folder in front of him, which they recognized at once. Gaara had been reading and carrying the same report with him everywhere for the past few days._

_Gaara's eyes scanned the paper in front of him again. There was no need to read it anymore; he had memorized the thing by heart._

_Temari was about to speak again when Gaara seemed to snap back to his senses. "It's time I received an explanation," he said quietly. Once more, his siblings exchanged curious glances but said nothing._

_"A week ago, I received a most unusual request…" Gaara said softly. He was staring straight ahead, but his voice seemed to come from far away. "Do you remember the time when that leaf kunoichi―__what's her name?"_

_"Shizune," Temari replied automatically. She knew what day Gaara was talking about._

_"Yes, her," the redhead continued, "the Hokage's proxy― that time she came here, approximately one week ago…"_

_Temari and Kankuro stilled in anticipation. They had been wondering about the private meeting for days afterward, but Gaara had not enlightened them with any information regarding what it had been about. Was he finally going to tell them?_

_"She pleaded with me, under her Hokage's orders, to hide one of their shinobi away in this village."_

_Gaara looked at them, but there was something they just weren't getting. Temari and Kankuro waited, confused._

_"For a month."_

_At this, the sand siblings stared at each other. Kankuro was the first to find his voice. "Wait… But isn't Tenten―" he began._

_"Do you mean to say that this entire guard duty thing was a farce?" Temari cut in; her face was all business._

_Gaara shook his head. "It seems this Tenten has no idea why she is being kept here, other than what she had been told."_

_Temari frowned. "So her Hokage lied to her? And what about you, Gaara? Why don't you know anything?"_

_He stood suddenly and Temari stopped herself from backing away a step. "The proxy said they were desperate, that the girl needed to leave as soon as possible," Gaara said, his voice mysteriously relaxed despite the hardness of his stare, "but that there would be no danger in keeping her here."_

_Now Kankuro and Temari were just plain confused. "You mean to say that there are no enemies following her, that she isn't in any immediate danger, that she herself isn't a danger, and that she isn't here to spy on us… yet for some unknown reason, it is absolutely necessary for her to hide away from her village for a month?" Temari said, her voice heavy with skepticism._

_Gaara nodded. "Basically."_

_"I don't believe it," said Temari at once. "Let's send her back."_

_Gaara and Temari stared at each other while Kankuro fidgeted with his hoodie._

_"Here," Gaara thrust the blue folder at her and Temari reacted just in time to catch it before the papers scattered. She looked at Gaara before opening it up to read it, with Kankuro peering over her shoulder._

_"T-this is…"_

_"I was told that they'd give me a proper explanation after the girl arrived," Gaara cut in, surveying his siblings' reactions carefully, "that they needed to secure her move first."_

_Temari and Kankuro were frozen on the spot. It was as if they had been paralyzed by the document before them._

_"Go to Konoha," Gaara repeated._

_The command seemed to break the spell and Temari shut the blue folder with a snap. Kankuro let out a low whistle._

_"And don't return until you have every last detail regarding this matter."_

_._

_._

_._

_And when she fell, she felt proud to die  
>Proud to die for the land that would call her a hero<br>Not knowing that she gave her life away  
>For nothing, because no one would remember her.<em>

_._

_._

End Chapter 2.


	4. Deus Ex Machina

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_Hold me, tie me, don't let me go  
>Tell me to love you forever<br>Because it's all I know how to do  
>Let me come back to you<em>

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**Hourglass**

**Chapter 3: Deus Ex Machina**

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_Why… did I come out here?_

Despite what he had told Tenten, he himself did not know the answer to the question. Why didn't he just send Yaoki or Korobi to get her?

But what was done was done. Gaara turned his head subtly and stole a short glance at the girl walking a few paces behind him. She had her eyes closed, nose scrunched, and tongue sticking out at him. Gaara frowned, but kept walking. He couldn't deny it― he was curious about her, from her temporary banishment from her village to just about everything else in general. He couldn't, for the life of him, remember anything about her, though there was a vague sense of familiarity about this Tenten. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to gather information from his past experiences in Konoha about her and yet―

The Chunin Exams; had it been his sister she fought in the preliminaries or some other person? But Temari had won her match… What kind of battle strategy did this girl use, then? The weapons he had seen scattered about her earlier indicated as much. But he couldn't recall any of her moves. Had she been in the Chunin Exams at all?

And then there was the time when he had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki. He couldn't say for sure, but he had a feeling that she had been there also… Gaara vividly remembered Naruto and his pink-haired teammate and their sensei. Lee and his sensei had been there too, and the Hyuuga―

Wait. Could she be the kunoichi of their team?

Gaara's frown deepened. How was it that he couldn't remember anything about this girl? He fought away a strong wave of annoyance at his lack of knowledge about her. _How can she have been so invisible?_

He chanced another backward glance and caught said girl in the act of making a rather ugly piggy-nose at him. When he caught her glance, she dropped her hand and blushed. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, noting with disapproval how she began to fidget nervously, perhaps thinking he was going to reprimand her.

He thought carefully about his next words. "Were you…"

_Were you in the Chunin Exams? How about that time when the Akatsuki…?_

Gaara paused in mid-speech. No matter how he decided to phrase his questions, he knew that it would nevertheless be offensive. He brought the logic back to his brain and backtracked. If Lee and the Hyuuga are, indeed, her teammates, then there would be no doubt that she had been in the Chunin Exams. There would also be no doubt that she had been with her team when they had come to retrieve him.

Why the hell couldn't he remember her?

He, Temari, Kankuro, Kankuro's opponent, Naruto, the Hyuuga, the Uchiha, and that lazy one― what was his name again?― had been the ones to pass the preliminaries. So Tenten had lost. But to who…?

"Um, was I…?"

The sound of her voice brought him back to the present. Tenten was shuffling her feet now in addition to biting her lip, a habit of hers that he had picked up on. It seemed his prolonged silence had done nothing to ease her nerves.

He dropped his gaze and turned to continue their walk back to the Kazekage's building. "Nevermind."

He could almost feel her resume the piggy-nose with increased intensity behind his back.

.

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There were no forests or private clearings in Suna. Tenten had checked, double-checked, and made sure. She was presently walking down a dirt path in the middle of the village square, shielding her face from the sandy winds with one hand and twirling a kunai absently in the other. Sweat was pouring down her back and forehead as the sun radiated its strongest heat during the last two hours remaining in the day. It would be setting soon and Tenten knew, from experience, that the sudden night chill would come once the sun had gone.

Gaara had left her almost three hours ago on the doorsteps of the Kazekage's building. He had given her permission to do as she wished― the time she was left with after her duties was her own, so long as she stayed within the borders of the village. She had thanked him sourly and turned to march right back the way they had come. She wouldn't deny it; she was still a little bit annoyed with all the secrets she felt everyone was sharing with one another but her.

A big, flashy sign posted on a window display caught her eye and she grimaced with a sort of disdain. There were many puppet shops selling tools and parts catering to the puppet-masters of the village, but she had yet to find a weapons shop.

Turning her back on the building, Tenten continued her walk. She was mildly surprised with her surroundings. Suna was no more different than Konoha― the vendors, the community, the people, the houses. For some odd reason, Tenten had always considered the Sand Village to be considerably smaller than the Leaf. Then again, perhaps it was because she had never really gone exploring in Suna. The few times she had found herself in the village, it had been because of a mission. The houses and buildings generally blended in with the sandy terrain… Or maybe she just hadn't really thought about the village itself at all. Maybe it was because the sand hid the buildings so well that they needed a second look to be seen. Whatever the reason, Tenten knew enough to judge that Suna was roughly the same size, in both borders and population, as Konoha. Possibly even a little bit larger.

Her feet stopped and she suddenly found herself staring at a big arch leading to what could only be described as an empty, walled-in, arena.

_What's this? _thought Tenten, letting curiosity get the better of her. It looked almost similar to the Academy's training grounds. After a brief hesitation, Tenten walked under the arch and peeked in, her eyes widening only slightly. _It is a training grounds! Suna has an Academy too? Since when? _Tenten thought, feeling considerably happier. She almost skipped on her way in, her hands already busy loosening her scrolls when she saw that it was occupied― a brown-haired girl, probably a couple of years her junior, stood panting by the left-edge of the grounds holding what Tenten recognized at once as a johyo. She looked completely winded.

Making her footsteps loud on purpose, Tenten approached the girl, grinning in a friendly-manner when she looked up from her training.

"Hey there!" Tenten called out, practically on edge with excitement, "can I join you?"

The girl's eyes flickered with uncertainty. She looked ready to bolt. "Um… y-you mean you want to train here? I can go if you want…"

Tenten frowned. "No, I was looking to spar, actually…"

As if her worst fears had been confirmed, the girl straightened abruptly and brushed off her clothes, looking away. "I… I don't think I'm ready…"

Tenten watched as the girl shuffled her feet. She looked so unconfident and unsure that Tenten felt an unsympathetic twinge of annoyance. Being in a hardcore team like Team Gai for years, Tenten could not stand seeing the girl's pointless distress. "Hey now!" she scolded, making the young girl jump, "You've gotta do it sometime! Besides, how do you even know that? You don't even know if I'm good or not, you're just giving up before you try!"

The girl's wide eyes flared with something like determination and Tenten couldn't help but feel a sort of pride for her. She let down her tough demeanor and smiled. "I'm Tenten, by the way," she said, holding out a hand.

The other girl took it gently but shyly. "I'm Matsuri… I'm still a genin."

"That doesn't mean I'll go easy on you, you know," Tenten said with a devious grin as Matsuri's face looked stricken. Laughing, Tenten took out the scroll from her left thigh holster and took several steps back. Her eyes flashed challengingly. "Come on Matsuri, hit me with your best shot!"

.

Barely twenty minutes had passed since they started and Tenten sighed, looking down at the completely defeated girl that lay upon the ground before her. She had to admit that she had the upper hand in this challenge; she was Konoha's infamous Weapon's Mistress, after all. She had mastered just about every single weapon known to mankind, and of course she also knew which weapon was best suited against which and vice-versa. To make matters easier, Matsuri's only weapon happened to be her johyo, along with some standard kunai and shuriken.

At first, Tenten had opted to use her non-poisonous senbon needles to see if Matsuri could dodge them. She had dealt with it fairly well until she realized that her johyo was no use against the small weapons and panicked completely. Next, Tenten decided to use her bo-staff, purposely giving Matsuri the advantage for her johyo. However, the girl's aim was not precise and Tenten ended the pathetic round by knocking the unsuspecting girl from above with the staff. Currently, Tenten was using one of her favorite kodachis, another weapon that could be easily snatched with the johyo.

Tenten watched as Matsuri struggled to sit up and bit her lip, frowning. No matter how much she wanted to, she just didn't have the heart to perform her Soshoryu. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl would not be able to dodge her projectile weapons. Neji, on the other hand―

_No! Damn it! Stop thinking about that loser!_

Tenten shook her mind clear, and offered the younger girl a hand and a small smile. "You're getting there," Tenten said, pulling Matsuri up to her feet with little effort. "Let's end it here for now. But remember: practice makes perfect! Just think about your goal."

Matsuri groaned, feeling her sore muscles. She coughed and rubbed the side of her stomach gingerly. "My goal?"

"Yeah," exclaimed Tenten, grinning. "Wanna hear mine?"

Matsuri nodded slowly, her eyes wide and attentive with some sort of awe. Tenten's insides squirmed uncomfortably and she briefly wondered if this was how the jounin felt when they were assigned a squad of genin graduate students.

"Well, my goal's pretty simple," said Tenten, placing a hand on her hip and beaming, "to be stronger than I was yesterday!"

Matsuri's wide eyes widened even more. "Stronger… than yesterday?"

"Yup!" said Tenten, smiling fondly at the sky as she remembered her genin days. "In fact, two of my… best friends… share the same goal."

At this, Matsuri started, her fatigue forgotten. "Can I―" she began hurriedly, eyes lit with a fire that Tenten knew all too well. Matsuri lowered her voice slightly, and continued on shyly, "Can I borrow that goal… Tenten-sensei?"

Tenten's eyes widened, speechless. _Did she just call me…?_

Matsuri blushed when Tenten continued to stare at her. "I-I mean… if it's okay to call you that…"

Tenten brought up a free hand and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I guess it's okay…"

The younger girl's eyes brightened. "To borrow your goal or to call you sensei?" she asked happily, seemingly shedding her inhibitions.

Tenten laughed. "Both," she replied, both flattered and amused.

"Yes!" Matsuri exclaimed, bouncing on the tips of her toes and pumping a fist up into the air. "That makes you my second sensei! Ever since he became the Kazekage, Gaara-sensei hasn't been able to teach me anymore!"

Tenten blinked slowly before the weight of the younger girl's statement settled upon her. "Wh― HUH?"

"Thank you for everything today, Tenten-sensei," said Matsuri, unaware of the older girl's bafflement. She bowed lowly and politely before straightening up again, smiling. "Can I meet you here again tomorrow, sensei?"

Her eager question was only met with a barely conscious, "Uh… yeah… sure…"

Matsuri squealed and seemed to refrain herself from outright hugging the older girl. "I'll practice all day tomorrow, sensei, so that I can be stronger than I am today!"

"…Yes… Okay…"

"See you tomorrow!" Matsuri called, already under the archway in her haste to leave and prepare for the next day.

Tenten remained where Matsuri had left her, frozen on the spot. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. _Gaara had been her sensei? Did he teach her how to use the johyo then?… But wait… does he even know how to use the johyo? How come…?_

Her head was swimming with a multitude of unanswerable questions. She knew why the little tidbit of information surprised her greatly― she was still under the impression of the "previous" Gaara… the one with the eyes of Death. Try as she might, Tenten knew that it would take time for her to get used to this "new and improved" version of Gaara. All this time, she'd only been hearing second-source tales about him, but to actually witness the change and hear it from first-hand accounts… it was a little bit more than startling.

Tenten sighed and stretched, realizing that she had been standing there for more than a couple of minutes, a fool, alone. She stowed her kodachi back into her scroll, at the same time gathering her scattered senbon needles by using her chakra strings.

_This is one hell of a day_, Tenten thought, smirking slightly to herself and thinking about the previous events of the hours past. It had started out normally enough with her waking up and washing and dressing― but then Gaara had come out of his room and practically ordered her to stay in his own forbidden hallway, then she'd had a friendly argument-filled tour with Temari and some sort of weird heart-to-heart with Kankuro, then later both of them disappear to go on some mysterious mission to Konoha so she was picked up by Gaara of all people… and now… now she had somehow become someone's sensei.

Shaking her head in amusement, Tenten wondered whether she'd ever had such a day back in Konoha. She never knew so many things could happen in a span of twenty-four hours.

A small gust of wind brought her attention to the sky. The sun was setting and darkness was falling. Tenten wondered with a small sense of longing whether Temari and Kankuro had reached the forests yet. A small wave of homesickness washed over her and Tenten rolled her eyes at herself.

_Girl, it is way too early to be homesick, _she scolded mentally. But the damage was done; she had let the feeling overcome her and her mind drifted to memories of her friends, her sensei, her apartment, her Neji―

"Damn!" Tenten growled angrily. _Stop making me think about you!_

Blinded with anger and frustration, she reached for her smaller scrolls and activated them with her jutsu, sending them flying into the air. Tenten jumped after them, positioning herself in between the two unraveled scrolls of parchment. "Soshoryu!" she yelled, spinning rapidly in midair and speed-summoning and firing her weapons by the hundreds, casting metal rain upon the ground until she couldn't summon anymore. She fell back to the earth with her empty scrolls, glaring at the silver scene before her.

_Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!_

She reached behind her for her big scroll and was about to toss it up and do her ultimate Heavenly Chain of Destruction technique when the sound of soft footsteps froze her on the spot.

How was it that she already knew who it was without looking?

"Don't show that move to Matsuri." It was the low, quiet voice she seemed to be hearing a lot lately.

Tenten turned to face her intruder. In one day she had familiarized herself with his chakra and sense of presence. That only meant one thing to Tenten: she's been seeing him too much. Far too much. _Don't these types of guys usually have better things to do locked up inside their empty rooms?_ she thought, annoyed. She felt guilty for the thought, but her bad mood was overpowering her senses.

_But it's true_, she tried to reason guiltily, stubbornly defending her wrong, _take Shino, Sai, Sasuke, and N―_

"What are you doing here?" she retorted sharply, inwardly cringing at her tone. She needed to get her thoughts as far away as possible from the "N" word. _And Ten-chan?_ came the dreaded inner from the back corner of her mind, _it's his freaking village. He can do whatever the hell he wants._

Tenten could have slapped herself.

Gaara stared at her impassively for a few seconds before decidedly ignoring her queries. "She's afraid of weapons."

Tenten stilled at his words, momentarily distracted. "Afraid of weapons?" she repeated, her voice sounding incredulous even to her ears. She couldn't even try to imagine having a fear of weapons. Tenten loved weapons. Loved them with a passion. Probably loved them even more than N―

"ARGH!" she yelled, kicking a kunai implanted into the ground beside her and sending it flying several feet.

"Does it upset you?"

Tenten looked up, almost jumping in surprise when her chocolate brown eyes met blue-greens. She bit her lip nervously. "Ahaha… no, no, I'm sorry. I was thinking of something else…"

He was staring at her intently, as though waiting for an explanation. Tenten cleared her throat and made a silent vow to stop acting like an airhead around him. "So, really? Matsuri's afraid of weapons?" she began, reverting back to the original topic rather smoothly. "I never would have guessed. I used senbon needles and a bo-staff… Heck, I even pulled out my kodachi and she didn't say anything… But then again, I guess that would explain the johyo."

Tenten knew she was rambling, but she felt the instinctive need to keep talking. If not to distract herself, then to distract Gaara from trying to ask about her earlier outburst. "G-good choice, by the way," she complimented lamely, her voice sounding strained. "She told me you used to be her sensei, so I assume you taught her how to use the johyo?"

"Yes."

"Ah. I thought so."

An awkward silence passed over them. Tenten began to draw her scattered weapons using her chakra strings for lack of anything better to do. He watched her with a frown on his face for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.

"…I remember that move," said Gaara slowly, as if trying to remember something with great difficulty. Tenten shrugged her shoulders in a careless gesture and sighed.

"Yeah. I bet you saw it during the Chunin Exams, right? But that was the lame version back then, I improved it a lot over the years," said Tenten, smiling a little to herself. She didn't know why she was talking so freely to him now. Perhaps her bad mood was good for easing her nerves. She took an armful of her weapons and dropped them fondly into a big, unorganized pile atop one of her scrolls. "I'd like to see your sister try and wave her stupid fan at them now! Hahaha!"

There was a flash of recognition in his eyes that did not go unnoticed by Tenten. She frowned. "You didn't forget that I fought Temari, did you?"

He looked away and she was almost certain that she saw a pale, pink flush on his cheeks before it vanished. Tenten put her hands on her hips, offended. "Wait a minute― you did, didn't you? You actually forgot!"

He remained silent, exercising his individual rights. Tenten crossed her arms and huffed. "I can't believe it… am I really that forgettable?"

She said the last few words mournfully as a flash of white orbs and dark brown hair burned in her mind's eye. Her bad mood just turned ten times worse. Gritting her teeth, Tenten turned back to cleaning her mess.

"…What upsets you so much?" Gaara asked from behind her, and for a second Tenten was startled by the mere fact that he was even asking. Had Gaara always been so talkative or was this also a new development?

She glanced at him and bit her lip. "How about this… I'll answer your question if you answer mine?"

When he didn't say anything, she continued. "What are you doing out here? I thought you went back to your―"

"No, I followed you."

Tenten blinked. _Well, that was straightforward… should I also ask why?_

He didn't give her a chance, however, as he stepped closer towards her, his face looking serious. "Now answer mine," he demanded. There was unmistakable authority in his voice, and Tenten immediately reminded herself that he was the Kazekage.

"Um… I shouldn't trouble you with it… it's really nothing important," she began, starting to fidget with the hem of her orange hoodie. When his expression betrayed annoyance, Tenten continued hastily, "It's really stupid, but there's this… this someone… that I know. And― argh! Where should I start?"

She scratched her head in frustration and took a deep, calming breath. "Well anyway, I guess all you really need to know is that we went out, we broke up, and now we're basically pretending not to know each other!"

It was a bitter declaration of the truth, but it hurt so much more after she spoke it… She saw the confusion on Gaara's face and felt that he was trying to make sense of her words in his mind. Tenten had an inkling that she had lost him somewhere and it dawned upon her suddenly― did Gaara even know what "we went out, we broke up" meant?

Tenten cleared her throat gently, hugging herself tight. "That is to say, I loved him very much, and I thought he loved me too," she admitted in a whisper, her voice breaking, "but… but I guess I was wrong. He― he left me."

She waited for the tears to flood her eyes, but none came. She was all cried out. After all, she had cried rivers of tears in Konoha prior to her departure. But it was the only thing that was missing― although the tears were not present, the hurt was. Tenten felt a sudden headache and sickness wash over her and sat down on the cold, hard earth with a sigh. The sky was a dark purple now― the prelude to the night.

She didn't understand why she suddenly felt warm despite the obvious chill of the cooling air when Gaara lowered himself to sit beside her, but she was glad all the same. She didn't think she could stand to be alone right now.

"…Why did he leave you?" His voice was soft, and Tenten turned her head to see his face. He was looking at her with such intensity that she immediately remembered the words she had spoken to Kankuro.

_It's like when he looks at me, he can see everything that I'm made of._

Tenten sighed sadly, lowering herself onto her back, trying to find stars in the sky. It was something she had a habit of doing; Just like Shikamaru watched the clouds during the day, Tenten watched for stars at night. The coolness of the ground made her shiver. "I guess I just wasn't good enough."

Gaara seemed troubled, but said nothing. He settled back to watch her watch the stars, offering his silent company.

To Tenten, it was enough for now.

.

.

It was well past eleven and she was making her way slowly to her room, having just finished her solitary dinner in the kitchens. She stopped at the fork at the end of the main hallway, facing three tall, solid doors and abruptly turned to open the one to the right.

It led to a short, dark hallway, about twenty feet long and with two doors on each side. Her room lay behind the door to the far left. And the door opposite hers…

Tenten let a small frown on her face. He was such an enigma.

A small creak to her right made her jump and her eyes found the unmistakable red hair and blue-green orbs in the semi-darkness. She certainly was seeing a lot more of him recently.

He was peering out from behind his door, through a small sliver of space. Tenten could tell he had been waiting for her, because when he spoke his words were measured carefully.

"I had a similar experience… but with a family member," he said, his tone sounded somewhat fragile but his expression was set and impassive. "I too believed that Yashamaru abandoned me."

He paused while Tenten wondered who the hell Yashamaru was.

"But I found out that… he really did care about me."

Tenten bit her lip. She didn't know what kind of expression she was showing him, but Gaara's face softened at seeing it.

"Maybe yours will have a happy ending too."

He managed to catch her smile before he closed the door.

It was enough for now.

.

.

The next three days passed by without incident and unlike the action-packed first day, Tenten barely saw Gaara outside of coincidental meetings around the Kazekage's building. She busied herself with her mission, exploring the village, sparring with Matsuri, and just basically finding ways to entertain herself. Tenten had also begun to take note of the blue folder Gaara seemed to habitually carry around with him, but lately he also seemed to be carrying something else. A slip of paper maybe?

Perhaps it was lucky that Tenten waved it off as "Kage" duties and was uninterested about the entire affair.

.

He sat in his darkened office, staring at the words he had read a hundred times.

Gaara fingered the wrinkled note in his hands and frowned, laying it to rest inside the blue folder. It was troubling him immensely. A carrier pigeon had arrived early the day before, bearing the small scrap of paper with what was unmistakably his brother's hasty scrawl―

_No matter what happens, don't let Tenten out of the village. Don't let her come back here. We'll explain when we get there. Kankuro._

It was not enough. Not nearly enough.

But he knew the answers would come soon.

.

.

.

_You were the one who said that  
>There's no such thing as forever<br>So don't cry, don't hurt, don't run  
>My love has come undone<em>.

.

.

End Chapter 3.


	5. fidus Achates

.

.

_Run, run, as fast as you can,  
>you can't catch me...<em>

.

.

**Hourglass**

**Chapter 4: fidus Achates**

.

.

The sun was up high in the sky, shining mercilessly upon the weary travelers. It was the third day after their departure and they were tottering along at a considerably slower pace than when they had started. Their goal was near and clearly within visible range.

There was a lone figure leaning against the village gates, swishing a senbon in his mouth with a lazy carelessness. It was a man, a jounin by his attire, with mousy brown hair and a blue bandana. He uncrossed his arms and buried his hands deep inside the pockets of his pants as he glanced uninterestedly at the arriving pair.

"We were wondering when we'd see you guys," he managed to drawl lazily through his senbon when they reached him.

The two sand shinobi frowned up at him as he made no movement to leave. They were impatient to get on with their business, the older man could tell. He looked up at the bright blue sky and sighed. _And after all the waiting I did… che, the young aren't very fun these days, _he thought wistfully. Pushing away from his comfortable perch, Genma Shiranui jerked his head towards the village.

"Well, come on. The Hokage's been waiting… the sooner this is over with, the better."

He turned and walked them through narrow dirt paths past vendors and villagers at a languid pace, fully aware that the other two wanted nothing more than to sprint to the Hokage's building. Genma heaved another sigh. There was a reason for this inconvenient tour… he wondered which of the two would notice first. They were only a few blocks away from their destination when one of them finally spoke.

"Is there something happening today?"

It was the girl. _Huh_, Genma smirked to himself, _maybe girls are more observant after all…_

He turned his head to glance at the blonde sand-nin walking beside him. She was frowning at him again, her eyes demanding immediate answers. Genma fought another urge to sigh._Really, no fun at all… Had I been so serious at that age?_

"Well not today exactly, but yes, there is something happening," he said, offering a small half-shrug, "But you won't be getting answers from me. That's the Hokage's job."

The girl was now glaring at him and this time, Genma really did sigh. "Look, we're almost there anyway. You'll find out, okay?"

"Wait― does that mean you know what's going on with Tenten too?" the face-painted boy asked from behind him. Genma didn't have to look to know his two companions were regarding him suspiciously. He rolled his eyes._ Seriously, kids today… wait… why do I sound so old?_

"Who doesn't know?" he said offhandedly, shrugging again and pointedly ignoring the obvious exchanged glances the two younger ninjas shared.

"You mean to say that everyone in the village knows about it?" the girl asked sharply.

They were at the front door now, and Genma held it open for them with a lazy smile. "Did I say that? The heat must be getting to me…"

He bit back a smirk as the blonde girl walked past him after her brother and thought absently, _My, my, if looks could kill…_

The trio was midway up the stairs when a certain lazy shinobi and purple-clad blonde made their appearance at the top, just about ready to descend. When he caught sight of them, Shikamaru brought up a hand to rub the side of his neck.

"If you're up to see the Hokage, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for the search party," he said with an underlying tone of irritation. It was clear to all that he had gone up to find an empty office. He made a sour face when he saw Temari regarding his close proximity to Ino with narrowed eyes. Said blonde beside him clutched his arm in a show of womanly possessiveness, glaring at the sand kunoichi while Shikamaru rolled his eyes. _Women!_

Genma and Kankuro watched the tense atmosphere between the three and shared an amused, curious glance with each other. _Maybe I assumed too soon_, Genma thought, folding his arms and smirking, _they're not all stick-in-the-muds after all… This can actually get interesting._

"So what brings you up here, lazy-ass?" Temari asked, trying to sound casual and somewhat succeeding. She ignored completely the gorgeous blonde attached to his arm. "Please don't tell me you're actually working."

Shikamaru's shoulders drooped slightly. "Hey, give me a break…"

Not about to be left out of the conversation, Ino turned to her teammate-held-hostage and pressed her buxom chest tightly to the side of his arm. He tensed visibly; whether from Ino's provocativeness or from Temari's death glare or both.

"Come on, Shika, let's go already!" Ino whined, putting on a cute pout on her face that had the older kunoichi bristling. "We promised Choji that we'd meet him at the barbecue!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he said, determinedly ignoring the pleasant feel of the mounds of softness that was currently pressed up against him. He knew from experience that the situation would become unnecessarily more troublesome if he were to scold Ino and focused instead on making sure that the two blonde kunoichi before him were separated immediately while also formulating plans that would ensure the two never meet again in the near future. Shikamaru held up his free hand in goodbye, trying to bite back a scowl at his troublesome teammate's victorious grin. "We should go," he drawled, his eyes trained upon Temari's face. He realized that she was undoubtedly trying to kill Ino with the intensity of her glare. He heaved a long-suffering sigh and made a quick work of descending both Ino and himself down the stairs.

"Later, lazy-ass," the sandy blonde muttered in a strained voice.

The last thing Shikamaru heard before they were out of earshot was the mumblings of a confused Genma. "Wait a minute… I could have sworn I heard the Hokage say that those two were on a mission not due back in two weeks…"

Shikamaru quickened his pace out of the building, almost dragging Ino behind him for once.

"Shikaaa," she called from behind, "Slow down! Geez!"

He didn't slow his quick pace until they were directly in front of the local barbecue, and he stopped to turn and face her fully. Ino frowned and let his arm free, placing her hands on her curvaceous hips.

"Now what?" she snapped, though there was a guilty tone to her voice and a worried tint to her azure eyes. "Are you going to lecture me about earlier? If so, don't bother."

Shikamaru sighed heavily, burying his hands deep inside his pockets. "Why do you always get like that around her?"

Her answer was immediate. "I don't approve!" she growled angrily. "You can do so much better! I won't let you date anyone who is no better than me! …That is, if it's even possible to find anyone out there better than me." She flipped her long sunshiny blonde hair obnoxiously out of her face, suddenly smiling. "And besides," she added, her voice dripping honey, "You can't be mad at me, Shika… can you?"

Shikamaru tilted his head up at the sky, feeling a headache coming. It wasn't that he never got mad at her; on the contrary, there had been many times when he had lost his patience with Ino. It just wasn't worth the effort for him to outwardly show it and act upon it, so he always somehow ended up going along with whatever she wanted.

"Yay! I knew it!" the blonde squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him fully on the lips. Shikamaru stumbled at the force of her hug but quickly righted himself, gripping his teammate tightly around the waist for balance. He broke away and scowled at her.

"Ino," he said warningly, stepping away. He and Choji had been subjected to Ino's random passion time and time again and they had both come to acknowledge the girl's ferocious possessiveness of them. Shikamaru knew that Ino's love extended only to a familial sense, but her overly familiar actions were greatly misleading to the eyes of an everyday observer. He needed to set their boundaries straight.

Ino frowned at his tone and sighed. "Okay, okay, don't get grouchy. Why don't I hook you up with this fantastic kunoichi I met on my last mission? She's just fab, and she has a pretty face! She's really something to look at. Well, she's not me, but she's almost as perfect! Honestly, you'll love her."

Shikamaru rubbed his temples, shutting his eyes in annoyance. Ino was the most troublesome person in his life, especially when she tried setting him up on blind dates with girls she had "pre-approved" for him. But then again, Shikamaru counted himself lucky that his only problem was one― or perhaps two― blonde kunoichi. He brought up a hand to rest it fondly atop her head, his mind grimly thinking upon a certain weapon's mistress and white-eyed prodigy. Yes, Shikamaru decided, he was lucky. He could have it much worse… much, much worse.

Some things in life were just too troublesome for words.

.

.

"Come on, you've got this!"

The sound of three shuriken skidding on the ground, missing their target, and the unmistakable swish of airborne kunai reached his ears. Curious, Isago braved a peek through the Academy's archway and his face fell comically. Standing in the middle of the training grounds stood the Konoha recruit― _Tenten, was that her name?―_ and below her, clothes pinned helplessly by five or six kunai on the ground, lay one of the genin. Isago racked his brains minutely for the girl's name. _Was it Mitsuri or Matsuri?_

He watched as the girl struggled to free herself while the older girl sighed in exasperation. "Matsuri, just because you see the weapons coming in front of you, it doesn't mean there aren't any from behind!"

"Y-yes, sensei…"

Isago's ears perked up at this._ So, the girl has taken this… Tenten, was it?… as her new sensei? Interesting..._

"Come on! Free yourself!"

"I-I can't! It's impo―"

"No, no, NO! What did I tell you?"

"Nothing's impossible!"

"That's right! _So why are you still on the ground_?"

"Waah! I'm sorry, sensei!"

"Come on! Where's your power of y―"

Isago watched as the energetic young woman's face seemed to drain of color. She stopped abruptly, looking disgusted with herself and her enthusiastic demeanor faded considerably.

"Nevermind, nevermind. Just keep trying."

"Yes, sensei!"

The scene was disheartening him; even though Konoha was now a close ally, Isago couldn't bear to see the sight of a Suna shinobi under the mercy of one of the Leaf. Both he and Tenten watched for a few more minutes as Matsuri struggled hopelessly to free herself before the older girl gave in and sighed, kneeling beside her student. She pulled out two kunai pinning Matsuri's sleeves and glared at her protégé.

"You better be able to do this now," she threatened darkly, almost doubling Matsuri's efforts to break free. Isago could not tell whether it was from fright or determination.

"Okay, here's the deal," Tenten began, getting to her feet and collecting the weapons scattered around the grounds. "If you can get yourself free in the next five minutes, I'll show you how to use another defensive weapon, similar to the johyo."

Matsuri's struggles ceased as she stared wide-eyed at her sensei. "R-reallly? There's another kind?"

"Of course! There are plenty!" enthused Tenten, placing her hands on her hips. "But only under these conditions: you've got to get free in the next five minutes and you've got to show me to a weapon's shop!"

Isago entertained the thought of helping the pinned girl quietly while her sensei's back was turned, when he detected a familiar presence standing right behind him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on alert and Isago turned humbly to his superior.

"Ah, Kazekage-sama," he muttered, bowing his head politely, "What brings you out here?"

"Isago," Gaara acknowledged in return, "I've been… curious."

"About the girl?"

Gaara nodded and both of them turned their eyes towards Tenten who was currently frowning down at her still-struggling student. She heaved a sigh and turned away from the sorry sight, only to stop dead when her eyes caught the two men standing outside the archway.

"Will you… go to my office and keep watch, like last time?" Gaara asked, though both of them knew it was a direct order. He kept his gaze fixed upon Tenten's and he could tell she was fighting the urge to look away first. Beside him, Isago nodded mutely and vanished with a hand sign.

"Um, Kazekage-sama, was there something you wanted?" Tenten called in the lulling silence. She took a few hesitant steps towards him, bringing Matsuri's attention to the new arrival. The younger girl's face brightened immediately and she called out, "Gaara-sensei!"

He acknowledged her with a tilt of his head and she blushed. This did not go unnoticed by Tenten, however, and she felt something akin to wry amusement. _Well, well,_ she thought, fighting back a smirk,_ looks like even Gaara has his fangirls…_

There was something dark behind the blue-green tint of his eyes, and Tenten's amusement faded as she grew somber. She could easily tell that there was something bothering him from years of experience of trying to read a certain quiet, obstinate teammate. He was looking at her directly with those eyes, and Tenten couldn't shake the feeling that it was something about_her _that was bothering him so greatly. She clutched her hands in an attempt not to fidget around, her mind quickly calculating what she could have done to upset him. Was he displeased, perhaps, that she was training his ex-student? Did he have blossoming feelings for Matsuri and was just too stubborn to admit it? Then again, he had caught her failing miserably in her mission just three days ago, and later even caught her making faces at him… But why wait three days to confront her about her misdeeds?

He opened his mouth and she inwardly braced herself.

"We don't have a weapon shop in Suna."

Tenten's brows furrowed. _What the hell? _she thought, wanting to voice it out loud but restraining herself. She cleared her throat and decided to play along. "Why not?"

"All weapons are stored inside the Kazekage's building. If shinobi are in need of them, they simply have to ask."

Tenten sighed. "That's lame," she voiced out loud._ Looks like I won't be adding on to my arsenal here after all..._

Gaara studied her face for a moment, and gave her a small half-shrug. "You are free to look at them, if you'd like," he offered quietly.

To say that she was surprised would have been an understatement. "Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyebrows raising slightly, "Um, well, I'd love to… but…"

Tenten bit her lip, looking for an excuse. It wasn't that she didn't want to be alone with Gaara― it was just… Hell, alright, it was exactly because she didn't want to be alone with Gaara. Her eyes found Matsuri, who was lying frozen on the ground with a frown on her face. She had been watching the short exchange between the two silently.

"I'm in the middle of sparring with Matsuri… maybe later?" Tenten asked, not at all being subtle about her sorry excuse.

Gaara's eyes flickered briefly to the young girl, who blushed harder upon realizing her defeated state, and shook his head. "It seems to be over," he said, motioning to Matsuri. She struggled once more to free herself, embarrassed beyond belief. "Why not come now?"

Again, there was a command in his question and Tenten reluctantly gave in. "Okay… I guess…"

She then folded her arms, turning away from Gaara, and directed a hard stare at her pupil. "Matsuri, you have one minute left."

At this, the younger girl heaved a sigh of exhaustion and fell back against the earth. She shook her head vigorously, her lower lip trembling. "I… I can't do it…"

She was met with disappointed stares by her two sensei and felt the burning shame tinting her face red and stinging her eyes with hot tears. She avoided their gaze, laying completely still on the ground as Tenten kneeled beside her and began pulling out the kunai from her clothing one by one. Once the silent task was completed, Matsuri sat up, rubbing her wet eyes.

"You shouldn't have struggled against them for so long," Tenten murmured quietly, stowing the kunai in her back pocket while getting to her feet. She offered Matsuri a hand. "You should have thought about using ninjutsu to free yourself once you found out that you weren't physically strong enough to break free."

Matsuri took her sensei's hand and Tenten pulled the girl up to her feet effortlessly. "You should have done so when I freed your arms."

The girl bowed her head, trembling from head to toe. She fisted her hands tightly and whispered, "Y-yes, sensei… I promise to work harder."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?" she snapped, causing Matsuri to look up in surprise at the harshness of her tone. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I-I promise to work harder…?"

"What?"

"I promise to work harder, sensei!"

Tenten's face softened and she smiled. "Good! That's what I thought you said."

"It's getting late."

The low, quiet voice jolted the two girls into remembering the presence of the Kazekage. He was staring at them impassively, face devoid of any emotion. Tenten couldn't help but wonder how long it would take her to read his façade. She had become quite well-versed in the language of the ocular sense; there were just some things that could not be hidden completely. A_certain someone_ had taught her that― or rather, she had learned it herself through careful observations. The eyes always gave something away, and Tenten knew it well. There's a language in how often the eyes shift from one spot to another, the direction of the gaze, as well as the focus and intensity of it, the way it's directed towards another person, whether slanted upwards, downwards, or direct. Yes, the eyes always gave something away… but not as much as the tone of voice. Spoken words habitually and unavoidably implant the feelings of the speaker through the tone. Many meanings could be gathered by a spoken word― or syllable; perhaps something like "Hn" or similar― indicating feelings of anger, happiness, fear, sorrow, passion, confidence, nervousness, boredom, doubt… a never-ending list. Many other things about the voice could give away a perfectly assembled façade such as the voice inflection, delivery, sound, and energy… and not to mention, the matter of body-language: the twitch of a hand, the tilt of the head…

And after putting together everything Tenten knew about interpreting these mysterious silent beings with fangirls, Tenten could only come up with one logical conclusion: Gaara was trying to get rid of Matsuri.

But why would Gaara want to get rid of Matsuri?

_He wants you all to himself, duhhh_, an evil inner voice cooed. Tenten coughed loudly to mask her embarrassment at the wayward thought.

"Um, yes!" Matsuri hastened to say in response, blushing a pretty shade of pink and dusting off her clothing. "I should get going then…"

"Yes."

If possible, the girl seemed to turn a darker shade at the quiet response and smiled shyly. "It was nice seeing you again, Gaara-sensei… I missed you…"

As if unconsciously sensing something more behind those words, Gaara looked away and said nothing while the younger girl's smile brightened. She turned to Tenten, who was watching them with raised eyebrows.

"Tenten-sensei, I'll see you tomorrow! I'll work harder… I won't let you down!"

With a few final words of goodbye, Matsuri skipped away, leaving her two mentors in a rather uncomfortable silence.

Tenten wanted to joke about the younger girl's obvious affections for Gaara, but the words died in her throat when she remembered that he had staged Matsuri's departure in the first place. She looked at anywhere but him as she placed her hands behind her head, looking up at the sky casually.

"Well…" she began, trying to ignore his searching eyes, "I guess we should get going too…"

He swept past her without a word and wordlessly she followed. There were many questions she wanted to ask him, a few being 'What are you doing here?' and 'Don't you have stuff to do?' and 'Oho! Can't find anyone to play with now that your siblings are gone?' Tenten, however, kept her mouth wisely closed. The vibes she got from earlier, when she had concluded that there was something about her bothering the Kazekage, returned as she stared at his back. Was there something wrong?

"Um…"

Gaara stopped and turned at the sound of her hesitant voice. Tenten bit her lip as she too came to a halt.

"By any chance… did I do anything wrong?"

He looked slightly surprised by her question as his telltale eyes widened fractionally before returning to normal. He regarded her silently for a brief moment before shaking his head.

Tenten laughed nervously, scratching the back of her neck. "Oh… haha… that― that's good then…"

Gaara resumed walking and she followed after him, mentally berating herself. Why was she acting like a child expecting a reprimand?

They passed through the village outskirts, following the road winding into the busy streets with Tenten engaged in a full-blown mind-battle between her logic and her inner. She really needed to stop acting so strangely around Gaara. She was in the middle of debating her mental state against her emotional state when two rough, malicious voices filtered through her ears, interrupting her thoughts.

"Look at him," one man spat, hacking up phlegm crudely and spitting it into the ground before him. "Walking around like he owns the place…"

"Still can't believe that brat's been made the Kazekage," the man's companion agreed, his voice loud and carrying, "Really, Suna's going to the dogs these days…"

Tenten whipped her head around and spotted the men immediately. They were sitting on the ground on the other side of the street from where they stood, clutching bottles of sake and surrounded by empty ones. Clearly drunkards with nothing better to do. They leered at her provokingly when they caught her gaze. She narrowed her eyes at them dangerously, silently warning, _Don't you dare, cowards… Not another word from your filthy mouths…_

The message was not received.

"I still don't get why they stopped all those assassination missions," the first man continued, growling his displeasure. He was either stupid or plain oblivious to the glaring girl emitting death waves across the street from him. "If you ask me, they just didn't try hard enough."

These words triggered her fury, and before she knew it, Tenten found herself flinging a dozen kunai at the men with lighting speed and dead accurate aim. "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BASTARDS?" she yelled after her sharp projectiles.

The drunks had only a split second to voice their fear when a wall of sand shielded them from view. The weapons hit the solidified wall uselessly and scattered to the ground. Tenten gasped and turned to acknowledge the presence that was suddenly standing too close beside her.

The blue-green eyes were swirling with mixed emotions.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack my people," Gaara said quietly, his voice trailing into silence. He was staring at her with disapproval and a little bit of surprise, but his tone with her was far from reprimanding.

Tenten's face grew red, both from embarrassment and anger. "Wh-? What!" she screeched defensively, balling her fists in rage, "How can you expect me to just stand here and watch when others are insulting a friend―!"

Her words seemed to freeze them both on the spot. She was only distinctly aware of the rustling sound of falling sand and the hurried footsteps of the two fleeing drunks. She had just spoken without thinking. Tenten couldn't bring herself to keep looking at Gaara and her eyes found the dirt path beneath her feet. She stared at the dirt intently, as if the dusty particles would reward her with the meaning of life if she stared long and hard enough. It was a bad habit of hers, to speak rashly when she was angry. Her bad moods and fits of rage seemed to be her downfall. But despite the welling shame and embarrassment she was currently feeling, Tenten couldn't bring herself to regret her impulsive action. The men's words stung her mind, and she was all but bristling again at the memory, at sheer injustice of it.

But did she consider Gaara a friend? Sure, she considered Kankuro and Temari her friends…

_Wait a minute… Yeah, yeah!_ Tenten thought, feeling satisfied with her sudden rationalization. _It's okay to include Gaara in the bunch. The sand siblings have always been familiar with the Konoha Eleven…_

Unable to take the thickening silence any longer, Tenten coughed discreetly, still avoiding the gaze of one red-haired Kazekage. "I… I wasn't really aiming for anything vital…"

There was a small sound― a sort of throat-clearing noise― that finally made her look up. Her liquid chocolate eyes met his face and she stilled. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips and Tenten blinked, trying to clear her eyes to fix the unusual phenomenon. It didn't vanish.

"There will always be people against my rule," he murmured softly, his blue-green orbs bright, "but… thank you."

Tenten shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. All her previous anger had gone to replace an awkward, bubbling sensation. Her face colored and she bit her lip.

"It really wasn't… um…" she trailed off cluelessly, not really knowing what she was trying to convey. But as they stood there, facing each other, Tenten could feel the atmosphere beginning to change. Whereas she shifted and fidgeted with him before in strange companionship, there now settled a vague sense of familiarity. A sort of peace.

They continued their trek to the Kazekage's building, for the first time walking side by side in a comfortable silence.

.

.

Tsunade clutched her bottle of sake and drank from it heavily, watching as they closed the door to her office with disdain. Beside her, Shizune was watching with a disapproving purse of her lips but said nothing for once. The door snapped shut, and the Hokage's office vanished from view.

Temari and Kankuro were quiet as they walked down the hallways and descended the stairs, blinking in a stupefied silence once the setting sun of Konoha hit their eyes outside the building. Temari was still fuming over what she had learned, what she had heard…

Kankuro heaved a sigh, the noise sounding ear-shattering in the shared silence between them. He crossed his arms and turned to face his sister. "That carrier pigeon should reach Gaara in a few hours…"

Temari frowned. They had requested to borrow a messenger bird from the Hokage earlier to send to Gaara, but it was Kankuro who had written the message. "What did you write on it?"

"Just a warning," said Kankuro with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I just wrote not to let Tenten out of the village… and that we'd explain more when we get there…"

"Kankuro."

He had just begun walking again but stopped at his sister's tone. He looked back wearily. "…Yeah?"

"Do you think… that… that maybe we should―?"

"No," he said at once, feeling strange to see his sister looking so unsure of herself. "This is Konoha's business. It's not any of ours, so we should stay out of it."

"Yeah, but… still!" she remarked, glaring at him. She placed her hands on her hips, looking so fierce that Kankuro had to stop himself from taking a step back. This was more like the sister he knew! "This whole thing is bullshit!"

Her brother frowned, but said nothing. He knew what he would do if he had been the one in charge… He would march straight to Tenten and _tell her, dammit―_

"So… do you want to take that room―?" he began. This time, Temari cut him off.

"No," she said, starting to walk. "Gaara would want to know this as soon as possible. We should set off now. There's no time for rest!"

"Okay, okay…"

They were silent for the entire walk, each taking their time while mulling over the things they'd heard from the Hokage. When they reached the village gates, Temari felt a flicker of chakra and she turned around sharply, her eyes narrowed. Her brother raised his eyebrows at her in question.

"There's someone watching us…" she said, her eyes searching the streets, the treetops, the rooftops―

There! They caught a flash of white eyes before it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

.

.

He was seeing her in a new light all of a sudden... this girlish, squealing Tenten that was clutching the strange weapon close to her chest in a very indecent manner.

Gaara said nothing as he watched the wide-eyed girl run her hands over and over around the notches on the side of the blade in awed fascination. He was learning a lot about her today. It was a lot of progress on his part, much more than he had anticipated. So far, he had not gathered anything that was dark about her personality. Nothing about her indicated malice of any sort, which only fueled the mystery as to why she had been banished by her village in the first place. This girl, Tenten… he had been watching her closely since her arrival. He suddenly knew all these things about her, like how she had a habit of biting her lip when she was thinking or when she was nervous, how confident she was in her abilities, how her eyes twinkled with excitement whenever she sparred with Matsuri, how she scolded and praised at the same time, how she never voiced her pride in her blossoming student but she didn't have to because her face said it all… and how she was quick to anger at the face of injustice, how quick she was to defend others, how easily she made friends…

He felt her initial intimidation for him vanishing little by little every time they were together. Gaara found that he preferred the loose-tongued, angry Tenten to the shy, blushing and fidgeting one.

But right now… Right now she was…

"This has to be dream, because I _seriously_ _cannot_ be holding this right now," she exclaimed for what seemed like the twentieth time.

They were inside a dark room containing long tables filled with piled up weapons. Tenten had been wandering around in slight fascination, bypassing the standard kunai and shuriken and sai. Gaara had frowned when she had barely spared a glance at some of their most prized weapons, the kodachis and katanas and other valuable pieces of steel. Instead, she had stopped dead at the sight of the one mysterious weapon that no one in Sunagakure history had ever been able to identify.

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming," she moaned, looking about ready to sob over the short dagger she was fervently embracing. Gaara had a passing thought that her actions would have been much more appropriate had she been holding a loved one who had just returned from a dangerous long-term mission.

He made his way warily towards her, folding his arms. "You know what that is?"

She whirled around at the sound of his voice and her cheeks colored in a pale pink flush. It was obvious by her reaction that she had momentarily forgotten his presence. She cleared her throat and held out the weapon for him to see. "Yeah… I― Wait, don't _you_ know?"

Gaara shook his head. "No. It has been in Suna for generations, but… "

There was an unspoken question in his eyes that Tenten understood and they both looked down at the object in her hands. "I'm not that surprised to hear that… although I am surprised to find this here."

She ran her fingers down the notches on the side of the blade and sighed, her eyes glazing over in memory. "I was in a mission in the Land of Earth, in this big village of commerce, collecting information with my team. I was disguised as a blacksmith's wife, looking to buy a weapon for my husband's twenty-fifth birthday…"

Tenten trailed off, her voice adopting a dream-like quality. For a moment, Gaara wondered whether he should shake her back into the present. But there was something about this memory that seemed to trigger some unidentified emotion in the girl, and he was curious despite himself.

"… but of course, I just really wanted to know about the Daimyo's rule," she continued, trance-like. She was completely reliving the mission in her head. "I was in this small, very dark store… in the poor, shambled district, where you're not supposed to walk alone at night… of course, these are the kind of places where you can easily buy information, you know?… Then suddenly there was this tall man with black hair and dark red eyes, standing beside me… inside the store… and he told me he knew a weapon made across the sea… from far, far away…"

Here, she paused for a very long time. There was a memory behind her glazed stare, one that seemed to have made a big impression on her. Just as Gaara was starting to believe that she would not continue, Tenten began once more.

"… A 'sword breaker' is what he called it… He said that he overheard my conversation with the shopkeeper, that he was sure it would impress my 'husband'… but that he wasn't sure if I'd ever find one… and then…"

Her hands began to tremble as the memory of what happened next seemed to overcome her. "―a_nd then―_"

"Tenten."

It was the first time she heard him say her name. It was this more than anything that brought her to her senses. She blinked, her head snapping up to look at him. Her dilated eyes found him in the dark room, shining brightly with something like fear. It took her a few seconds to gather her surroundings and Gaara could see the memory fading back into the dark recesses of her mind as a calm descended upon her being. She blinked again, her face immediately wiped blank of any other emotion.

Tenten swallowed, trying to look as normal as she could. "S-sorry… it… that mission didn't end well for me."

Gaara couldn't help himself. "Why?" he asked, watching her frown and bite her lip.

"It― it happened over a year ago, but… I just don't like remembering it," said Tenten, sighing heavily. "I was hurt pretty badly… and I was unconscious for two weeks. My team had to move slowly on the way back home, transferring me from one village hospital to another… I woke up two days after my team finally made it to Konoha with almost every bone broken in my body… it was a nightmare."

Tenten lowered her eyes to the floor, her voice sounding suddenly fragile. "For a while I thought that… I thought that I would never be able to walk down the path of a ninja ever again."

Gaara didn't know what to say. He was speechless, and he never had much experience with such conversations. Even so, he felt that he should say something. Something encouraging, perhaps. He was spared the effort as Tenten's eyes began to blaze. He was silently amazed with her inner strength as she suddenly glared at the weapon in her hands, a demeanor of fiery will etched on every plane of her face.

"In fact," Tenten began, her voice laced with dry amusement, "the only worthwhile thing I got from that stupid mission was the story I was told about the sword breaker, a tool that can be used to break a sword… I really want to try this out!"

She made a few parrying swipes with the short dagger and brought it up to her face for closer inspection. "You see these notches on the side of the blade? It's for catching the end of a sword. Supposedly, if you twist the sword breaker right, it should snap off your opponent's weapon! Neat, right?"

If not for the slightly haunted look lingering beneath the twinkle in her eyes, Gaara would have been fooled into thinking that she had made a complete recovery from the terrible memory, that she had the ability to forget so easily and move on like the past pain was nothing…

Gaara frowned at her, and Tenten's forced cheer dwindled into a grimace. She could read him so easily already, Gaara thought. He vaguely wondered how she could make sense of his silence.

"It's okay," she said in response to his underlying worry, a small smile gracing her face, "This story has a happy ending, you know. I trained my ass off day and night to get back into fighting shape. Eventually, after six months of hard work I was able to get back to my previous condition. Actually, it's only been four months since I was allowed back into active duty. Of course, I haven't had anything above a C-rank since then, but it's only a matter of time before the Hokage will let me go back to higher ranked missions… I mean after all, with all this ninja shortage and whatnot…"

Gaara stilled, his thoughts racing at the information he had just been given. He found it rather difficult to process in his mind. _She had to train herself again for six months… And she just recently began doing missions again four months ago…_ Gaara quietly wondered how many missions she had done during the last four months.

"So… yeah…"

Her voice brought him back to the dark, dingy weapons storage room, and he looked at her in question. She was biting her lip again, and he noticed how her hands clutched the sword breaker tightly, as if afraid he would snatch it from her.

"I was wondering," she said, hesitating slightly, "…Can I borrow this?"

Her face was eager and excited and pleading all at once. She was practically emitting waves of desperation despite her casual display.

Gaara shook his head and her face fell. He fought the sudden urge to smile. "No… but you can keep it."

Her eyes grew wide with disbelief, but there was hope in her face. "_Seriously?_"

The stoic redhead nodded, unfolding his arms. "It's useless here… Nobody has touched it in years."

"You really mean it?" asked Tenten again, her voice unnaturally high-pitched. "Now I _know_ I'm just dreaming!"

Gaara inwardly cringed, hoping that she wouldn't start that again. Warm brown orbs found his blue-greens, excitement and gratitude shining in the specks of light dancing in the chocolate hues. She was beaming up at him with such sincerity that he found the magnitude of her happiness gratifyingly humbling.

"Thank you, thank you so much Kazekage-sama!" she declared passionately, looking about ready to soar through the roof.

"Gaara."

Tenten's brows furrowed in bewilderment, and Gaara felt a warm contentment spread through him. Her joy was positively contagious. He stretched out a hand and opened his mouth to ease her confusion.

"Call me Gaara… friend."

.

.

.

_And so our story begins..._

.

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End Chapter 4.


	6. Guilt by Association

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_Time ticks by, and my heart beats more slowly  
>Counting my life away<br>When will it be my time to go?_

.

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**Hourglass**

**Chapter 5: Guilt by Association**

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.

_"Come closer, dear…" the mystical voice urged from within the black depths of the shadowy tent. "Come, come… do not be afraid…"_

_She took a small step forward hesitantly, looking left and right around the deserted fairgrounds for her companions. The place was supposed to be abandoned, so why…?_

_"Quickly!" the voice commanded sharply as a chilling breeze swept by, flapping the folds of the dark tent and bringing a stale, stagnant smell to Tenten's nose. She took another reluctant step forward, trying to peer through the thick darkness inside, trying to find the owner of the voice_—

_Suddenly, a pale, old, gnarly hand shot out from within the dark tent. The long, ancient fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist, and Tenten gasped as she felt herself being pulled forward inside roughly, into the unknown…_

_"Tenten."_

_Another hand grasped her by the shoulder from behind, tugging her back gently but urgently. It was a large and reassuring hand, and a comforting warmth spread throughout her body like wildfire at the feel of it. The pale, ugly hand on her wrist jerked back as if burned and receded silently back into the black depths of the shadowy tent._

_She whirled around to face her savior—_

Tenten gasped, her eyes flying open at the deafening clang of the weapon dropping to the tower floor. She groaned and put a hand to her face when she realized where she was.

It was the sixth day of her mission in Suna as a hired shinobi on border patrol and already she was falling asleep on the job. Tenten's eyes immediately shifted to the right and left of her, trying to inconspicuously check that she was still alone on the tower. When her eyes and senses betrayed no other presence, Tenten let down her guard and sighed. Her gaze drifted down to the fallen sword breaker and she bent at once to retrieve it. She held an endless fascination for the foreign weapon and had been deep in thought as to how to use and incorporate it with her other weapons and techniques when she had— quite accidentally, for sure— fallen asleep.

Tenten stretched out her sore limbs and let out a huge yawn. She tried hard to remember the contents of her dream, but could summon no more than images of a darkened tent. Twirling the dagger in her hands, she peered down the tower for what was probably the second time in four hours, her eyes expecting the usual barren desert lands. She was not disappointed in her assumption. The wide expanse of the outer border was lifeless as usual. Visitors and travelers to Suna were quite rare.

Sighing, Tenten made to turn back to examining the sword breaker when a far-away speck of color to the left caught her eyes. It was immediately visible in the bland, rusty brown terrain and she squinted, trying to make heads or tails of the strange appearance. It was rapidly approaching from the west. Abandoning her position, Tenten pointed her telescope towards the western border and a happy gasp escaped her lips.

_Temari and Kankuro are back!_

A wave of excitement filled her, and Tenten was momentarily taken aback by her longing. It seems she'd become spoiled in Team Gai; a mere few days in her own company and already she was turning into a needy attention-seeker. Lowering her telescope, she quickly squandered the idea of calling out to them. It was childish and immature to ask for their time when they were most likely worn out from their journey.

Her chocolate-brown orbs were glued to the fast-approaching duo. There were so many questions she wanted to ask them about their mission, a few being "How's Konoha?" and "Did you see any of my friends?" and perhaps even, "What was your mission about anyway?" The last question was an unspoken taboo between allied nations— that is, asking friends from other villages about their missions— but it wouldn't hurt to try, right…?

She watched as they came closer and closer to the entrance of the western border up until they disappeared from view. Tenten reluctantly returned her attention back to the much-ignored northern expanse and glumly fulfilled her remaining hours of duty for the day.

.

.

"Um… hello?"

She snapped to attention, whirling around wildly in surprise. "Huh?" she managed intelligently, trying to cover up the fact that she had been caught, once again, in a dazed stupor.

A man her age, maybe older, was standing on top of the tower's staircase with an uneasy smile on his face. He was tall, with dark inky violet-brown hair. His looks were above-average, but nothing extraordinary. He scratched his head anxiously.

"Hi… I'm supposed to be on duty now?"

Blinking, Tenten quickly scanned the horizon for the sun's position and her mouth fell open. She brought a hand to her face roughly. "Ugh! What's the matter with me?"

"Miss?"

Tenten peered at the man between her fingers and sighed. "I'm sorry! I was just a little distracted…"

_The lie of the century that_, the back of her mind mocked.

Tenten felt the beginning pricks of shame and she was almost certain that the man would start criticizing Konoha due to her poor representation. To her utter surprise, he began to laugh instead.

"It's okay, no worries!" he said, his eyes lighting up with amusement. He came forward and extended his hand out to her. "I fully understand! In fact, I sympathize with you. I'm Yaoki, by the way."

Tenten took his hand with a sheepish grin and shook it once. "I'm Tenten."

They exchanged smiles before dropping their hands to their sides. Yaoki forced a cough, looking away somewhat awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you Tenten-san… but why haven't I seen you before?"

"Oh! I'm the Konoha recruit, didn't you hear?"

Yaoki looked back at her, his face completely confused. "Konoha… recruit? You mean you've been assigned to watch our borders as a mission?"

Tenten shrugged and nodded, slightly wary of her new acquaintance's surprise. "Yup. I thought everyone knew about it."

She watched as he frowned in thought. He hesitated before replying, "If you don't mind, Tenten-san, may I ask why…?"

"Why what? Why I was recruited?" said Tenten, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "Isn't it because of Suna's ninja shortage…?"

"Huh? Ninja shortage?"

"Yeah! I mean, isn't there—?" the brown-haired kunoichi paused suddenly, folding her arms across her chest. _Something weird is going on around here..._

The two shinobi stared at each other in a baffled silence before Tenten began anew. She chose her words carefully and when she spoke, it was with a slow and controlled voice masking her frustration. "Apparently, according to our respective Kage, there has been a short supply of ninjas in the hometown watching over borders… That is why I was sent here."

The man before her crossed his arms as well. "That's strange… All of my friends are still in the village and they aren't even on any missions. Is there something that Gaara-sama is hiding from our village?" he mused, getting lost in his thoughts. "But he wouldn't… he promised to never operate behind closed doors… that he'd always inform the people of what was happening…"

"Maybe it's something that only our Kage knows about?" Tenten suggested, frowning when an overwhelming feeling of deja vu washed over her. If she remembered correctly, she'd had the same conversation with Kankuro and she'd even suggested the same thing. _Maybe only the Kazekage knows_, Tenten repeated unconvincingly in her head, her mind working overtime. She'd just assumed it was something that was top secret without really knowing._ Come to think of it, on the first day that guy… Isago or whatever… he didn't know anything about it either…._

_What the hell's going on around here?_

"Ah, you're right!" Yaoki exclaimed suddenly, making Tenten jump. His smile returned and his expression was relieved. "Perhaps Gaara-sama is working with your Hokage on some problem your village is having."

Tenten fought the urge to scoff at him. "What? _My_ village? I'm here as a RECRUIT to guard_ your _village's borders!"

Yaoki visibly deflated at this. "Y-you're right… but Gaara-sama would never keep anything hidden from his people! That's why it must be Konoha's problem. It would make sense as to why he's not saying anything, don't you see?"

"No, I don't," said Tenten flatly, biting down the rude remarks that almost spilled forth, "Sorry, but I just don't know the Kazekage enough to have that much faith in him. Besides, if that's true, then that would mean that _my_ Hokage lied to me… and why would she? Lady Tsunade would never—"

_But you don't know your Hokage that well either, right Ten-chan?_ a sickly sweet voice taunted in her head, born of the nagging doubts plaguing her mind. Tenten clenched her fist and wished with all her might that she could fight the evil figment of her imagination. _So then why all this faith in _her_, hmmm?_

"Impossible! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"W-wait a minute!" Yaoki exclaimed in surprise, holding his hands out in surrender.

"How dare you suggest that my Hokage is lying to me!"

"I never—!"

"Why would she do such a thing, huh? You're just making things up!"

"Wait a min—!"

"You just don't want to admit that your perfect _Gaara-sama_ isn't telling you everything—!"

"Tenten-san, please—!"

"Maybe it's _your_ village—"

"Will you—"

"—not _mine_, thank you very much—"

"—just stop for a sec—"

"—and—!"

"HEY, HEY, HEY!"

Their shouting match came to an abrupt halt at the sound of the third voice. Yaoki and Tenten glanced at the unwelcome intruder on top of the staircase, their faces flushed— one being flustered and the other enraged. Isago met their eyes with amusement and curiosity. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"What's going on here? I'm not exaggerating when I say that half of Suna probably heard you two just now."

Yaoki took this opportunity to finally get his say in, taking advantage of Tenten's momentary silence. "Tenten-san, I never meant anything of the sort! Truly! I was merely theorizing. Everything I said, please forget about it! I…" he trailed off, flushing a darker shade of red, "I did not mean to upset you, and I apologize. T-to make it up to you… may I see you again?"

The other two shinobi stood frozen on the spot, shocked. Isago looked like he was witnessing the new gossip of the century while Tenten was just beyond stunned. A new pink tinge crept up on her cheeks for an entirely different reason than the first. _Is he… asking me out on a _date_?_

Time ticked by torturously slow and Yaoki was visibly losing confidence with each passing second. When he finally decided that he had made a fool out of himself and should just vanish from sight, Tenten heaved a bemused sigh that broke the thickening silence as well as the mounting barriers of tension. She cocked her head to the side, seeming to contemplate her new suitor. "Well…" she said slowly, biting her lip, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to…"

"Really?" the young man badgered at once, his face lighting up. "Then can I meet you here tomorrow night?"

"I guess," said Tenten slowly, wondering whether she was leading him on. Truthfully, she just was not looking for a relationship at the moment. Her "Neji problem" had dealt a seriously damaging blow to her emotional state. Then again, she shouldn't mope forever, right? It wasn't wrong to be open to new possibilities. _Although I doubt I'll ever end up with_ this_ guy_, Tenten thought idly. _Besides, it would be a fun change from being cooped up in my room polishing my weapons… right? And anyway, this guy looks like a total pansy… If he tries anything, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to handle him…_

Tenten watched as Yaoki twisted his hands anxiously, looking terribly flustered. The weapons mistress had a fleeting vision of Hinata Hyuuga. "G-great!" he stuttered brightly, "I'll wait for you Tenten-san!"

And with that, Isago and Tenten made their way down the tower staircase, both silently mulling over the events that had just occurred. When they reached the last step, they turned to each other simultaneously.

"What were you two yelling about earlier?"

"You really don't know anything about the ninja shortage?"

There was a bland silence, and Tenten reached up to rub the side of her neck awkwardly. "Um, you first," she offered.

Isago took the offer with no contest. He was a shameless busybody, and he glared down at her with the purpose of extracting every last detail of the earlier events. "I'm sorry if I happened to interrupt a lovers' spat," he said carefully, luring her in to take the bait.

Tenten shrugged nonchalantly, waving off the incident like it was nothing. "Oh, don't worry about it. Anyway, it wasn't a lovers' spat. He just said something stupid and I got all worked up over it. Nothing big."

Isago frowned at the young woman's impassiveness. "Yes… perhaps it _was_ nothing, seeing as you two made up pretty fast."

His face fell comically when the young woman waved this aside also with an indifferent flick of her hand. He had been anticipating a blush, or furious denial of some sort. "Nah. I'm not really looking for a relationship right now."

"And why is that?" Isago pressed on, trying hard to maintain aloof.

Tenten raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to introduce Ino, Konoha's own infamous busybody, to Isago someday. "It's too much of a hassle… especially long-distance relationships. They never work."

"Why meet with Yaoki tomorrow, then?"

The kunoichi sighed. _He gets points for persistence_, she thought wryly. "To be honest, I don't know. Maybe I just didn't have the heart to let him down."

Isago seemed to struggle over what to say next and Tenten took advantage of his momentary silence to ask her question. "So… do you really know nothing about the ninja shortage that Suna is having?"

The older man paused in his thoughts and considered her briefly. "Unfortunately, I am none the wiser. Truly, it would be best to ask the Kazekage directly, if you wish to know so much."

Tenten frowned, her expression becoming stony. She had a bad feeling about everything that just was not adding up. "You know, I think I'll do just that!" she said, before heading off to the Kazekage's building at a sprint without so much as a goodbye. She was determined to get some answers, and answers she will (hopefully) get.

_Time to get to the bottom of this._

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.

"She's outside."

They had heard her sprinting down the hallway, breaking them out of a very heated debate.

"Thank you, Kankuro, for stating the obvious."

The face-painted man rolled his eyes at his sister's snarky reply. She'd been unbelievably tense throughout the entire meeting, and it looked as though she wasn't about to loosen up any time soon. After all, it seemed that she was alone, pitted two against one, in the argument.

The three sand siblings were quiet as they listened intently to the sounds and voices coming from outside the office door.

"Hey, hey! You there!" came the weapons mistress's agitated voice, "Do you know who's in here right now?"

"Um, Gaara-sama's brother Kankuro and his sister Temari are debriefing their mission with him at the moment," a jonin passing by replied. Temari quickly identified the voice as Otokaze's, one of the building's guards.

"Bullshit!" the girl yelled, causing Kankuro to smirk slightly, "I saw them return over two hours ago! What kind of mission report takes that long?"

"Hey girly, don't ask me…"

They heard the jonin's footsteps resume its journey further down the hall until it was inaudible. Tenten, however, stubbornly remained outside, grumbling. Silence fell on both sides of the office door and Kankuro and Temari turned back to face their younger brother. He was staring aimlessly down at his desk, lost in thought.

"I still think we should just tell her," said Temari stiffly, renewing the earlier debate with a hot-headed stubbornness that she was known for.

Gaara and Kankuro sighed simultaneously. "No," said Gaara, glaring when Temari opened her mouth to retort, "And my decision is final."

Temari glared back defiantly, but said no more on the subject. Gaara motioned to the door in the silence. "Let her in."

.

Tenten's eyes were watering from her extended effort of trying not to blink. She was convinced that if she stared long and hard enough, the door would somehow magically fly op—

"Hey!"

Kankuro and a sullen-looking Temari emerged from the dark depths of the Kazekage's office, looking somewhat sheepish. The puppet-master returned the brunette's greeting half-heartedly while the blonde beside him busily ignored the both of them.

"How was the mission?" Tenten asked brightly, wishing desperately for any news of her home village.

"Oh, uh, fine. It was fine," said Kankuro, while Temari shot a not-so-subtle glare in his direction. Tenten gave the two siblings a strange look before turning to the older kunoichi.

"What's up with you?" she asked.

Temari turned away so fast that she was already halfway down the hallway before Tenten could even process that she'd moved. "Tired," the blonde responded stiffly, her back turned to them. She raised a hand in a nonverbal farewell before disappearing around a corner.

Tenten placed a hand on her hips, her lips pursed in a frown. "Wow. She's a little grouchy, isn't she?"

"Nah… hahaha…" Kankuro denied awkwardly, forcing out a laugh that had the brunette looking more suspicious. "She's just tired, like she said."

"Could've fooled me," retorted the weapons mistress tersely. Here she was, waiting for the two of them in excitement, and off goes one of them like she was running away from the plague itself!

Kankuro forced out a cough. "Anyway," he said, casually tugging on the hood of his hoodie, "Are you here to see Gaara?"

Tenten nodded slowly. "Yeah, I was just gonna—"

"Oh! Well don't let me hold you up!" Kankuro interjected hastily, cutting her off with an abruptness that wasn't all too subtle. "I'm feeling a little tired too, so I'll see you later okay?"

Tenten stared after the quickly retreating back of the puppet-master in wonder, both a little offended and surprised at the two siblings' less-than-warm greeting. _What's with them? _she thought curiously, watching as Kankuro disappeared around the same corner his sister had passed through earlier.

Shrugging off the strange incident for later perusal, Tenten whirled around to find blue-green eyes staring straight at her.

"Whoa!" she screeched, her hand flying to her heart in surprise. "What the—?"

There stood Gaara, hands impassively folded across his chest. He said nothing, only inclined his head to his office door, as if to say _after you_.

"Kazekage-sama! You scared me!" she wailed, taking deep breaths to still her rapid heartbeat.

Gaara shook his head. "No," he murmured. "Gaara."

_Ahh… not this again_, Tenten thought sullenly, recalling every moment it had happened so far. After the 'incident,' as she liked to call it, when Gaara had dubbed her his official friend, he refused to answer her whenever she addressed him by his formal title. She just wasn't comfortable with the informality, but for some reason the man before her stubbornly refused to move on with the conversation unless Tenten called him by his name. She had been surprised at first by his childish insistence, but along the way, it had somehow begun to turn into a game. _Being friends with him is more troublesome than I thought… Man, I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru…_

"Okay, okay… Um, Gaara," she said slowly, and as an afterthought added, "—sama…"

The redhead stared at her stonily.

"Look, can we just…?" she began, stepping forward to enter his office. He sidestepped smoothly in front of her, almost glaring.

"Say it…"

Tenten stared back stubbornly. She didn't know why she was acting equally childish, but for some reason—

"Is that an order, Gaara-sama?"

"Yes."

"I didn't think friends had the authority to order each other around."

"Friends call each other by name."

"But_ Gaara_-sama, I _am_ calling you by name."

He glared her now, for sure this time. "Say. It."

Tenten sighed heavily. "Why do I have to?"

"Why don't you want to?"

"Because! You're the freaking _Kazekage_!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. _So what?_ he seemed to be asking.

"Geez! Why do we have to do this every time we see each other?"

When he didn't answer, Tenten frowned.

"Alright, alright!" she relented, giving in as usual. "_Gaara_, can we please go in now?"

His only response was a curt, approving nod as he turned around to lead the way through the door.

"God, we really have to stop doing that…" Tenten muttered, half amused, half annoyed. She thought she caught a glimpse of a smile on his face before it vanished in the darkness of his gloomy office.

Tenten followed him inside and stood unsurely— but determined as all hell— in the middle of the room as she waited for Gaara to seat himself behind his desk. When he finally looked up, she stepped forward and took a deep breath.

"I just want to know…"

.

.

It was nearing midnight, but sleep would not come to her.

Temari stood, facing the moonlit panes of her window. Her head was swimming with thoughts of Konoha's recent problem and she tried in vain to keep focused on trying to forget the entire affair. Somehow, flashes of a blonde, blue-eyed girl wrapped around a tall, lazy shinobi kept invading her already-muddled mind.

It shouldn't have bothered her so much. And yet… here she was, sighing like a lovesick schoolgirl.

Temari gritted her teeth and shook her head free from thinking of such things. She pulled on her ninja attire and grabbed her battle fan, striding out of her room, down the hallways, and out of the building. A walk might soothe her.

The chill of the night was a welcome distraction, and an oddly pleasant calm descended upon her being. Already, she was feeling much better. The normally busy streets of the village were quiet for once, and the silence was warm music to her ears. She was barely ten blocks away from the Kazekage's building when a figure, cleverly hidden in the shadows, caught her eye.

The girl was lying on one of the side benches of the street, her arms tucked and folded behind her head. One leg was dangling down from her perch, her toes almost touching the dirt beneath her. She was gazing intently at the dark sky above her, and Temari identified at once what she was doing.

"Looking for stars? I thought that was a kids' game."

Tenten jolted from her intent search and turned to face the sand-nin. She smirked as she made to sit up, allowing the older girl room to sit beside her. "Great! Looks like I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep tonight… But I thought you were resting?"

Temari lowered herself next to her and sighed, offering no answer. She tilted her head back while Tenten did the same. They were quiet for a long time, searching the black sky for stars.

"Hey…"

Tenten glanced at the blonde kunoichi, a little surprised by her uncharacteristic hesitance. "What?"

Temari turned her face away so that Tenten could not see her expression. The older girl seemed to be resolving some inner conflict within herself, and Tenten wisely waited while her companion found the words to say. After a short moment, Temari turned back to her with a solemn expression.

"Do you… Do you know that blonde bimbo from your village?"

Tenten blinked. "Huh? Bimbo?"

"That— that annoying blonde chick that's always hanging around that lazy-ass!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow, taking in Temari's angrily flushed face. _Wait a minute. Blonde bimbo? Lazy-ass? That sounds familiar…_

"Are you, by any chance, talking about Ino and Shikamaru?"

Temari snorted, folding her arms to her chest. "Ino?" she sneered, "Is that her name? How fitting!"

_Is this what's been bothering her?_ Tenten's lips curved in a small, knowing smile as she settled herself back against the bench, stretching lightly. "What about her?"

"They're dating, aren't they," said Temari dryly. It wasn't a question.

The weapon's mistress shook her head, bemused. "Them? No way! Shikamaru thinks all girls are troublesome, while Ino… well, let's just say she likes 'em pretty," concluded Tenten, thinking back on Sasuke Uchiha and the blonde's newest conquest, Sai.

"Didn't look like that when I was there. They were practically all over each other, it was disgusting!"

Tenten shook her head again, smirking slightly. It was tempting to tease the sandy-blonde, but Tenten figured it was too early for such comments. The older girl was clearly distraught, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"No," said Tenten placatingly, "Ino's just really, _really_ possessive of her teammates."

"You don't say," Temari deadpanned.

Tenten laughed. "Seriously! She'd be like that with Choji too, if you decided to go for him."

When Temari said nothing, Tenten continued. "Ino's not used to competition when it comes to Shikamaru and Choji, so she's been spoiled by their attention. Those two don't have many female admirers in our village…"

Tenten's brows furrowed in deep thought. "Actually, come to think of it… I don't think they have any," she mused. "Maybe all the girls think that Ino has dibs on Shikamaru… and as for Choji, well…"

The brunette trailed off, mentally cringing at the direction that her explanation was taking. She immediately changed the subject, taking another route. "Anyway, you've probably noticed it, but standing next to Ino—"

"Makes you want to punch her in the face?" Temari interrupted seriously.

Tenten laughed. "No! Well, okay, maybe sometimes…" she conceded. "But it's enough to make any girl feel like a dirty sack of potatoes. It's not Ino's fault, of course… but then you understand why no one goes for Shikamaru. No one wants to compete with the feisty, gorgeous blue-eyed blonde." _Well, maybe except Sakura Haruno_, Tenten added quietly in her head, _but she's another story…_

"And yet you think that that lazy-ass doesn't want her?" The blonde's voice was heavily laced with skepticism, and it wasn't hard to understand why.

"Well, Shikamaru likes Ino, everyone knows that," said Tenten offhandedly, making the sand-nin freeze. "But as to what kind of like… it's pretty much safe to assume that it's nothing more than brotherly affection."

She paused, trying to read the sudden lack of expression on her friend's face. "And well, if it happened to be more than that, then I'd feel sorry for the guy. I don't think Ino would ever date Shikamaru seriously."

Again, Temari kept silent and said nothing. She seemed to be in very deep thought. Tenten smiled. "Still, don't expect that it'll be easy— Ino will fight to the death to keep what belongs to her. Better get your game on if you ever want a chance with her _darling Shika_."

At this, Temari stood up abruptly, dusting her clothes off. "Hmph," she replied, looking away. "You're mistaken. I never said I wanted that lazy-ass! As if!"

Tenten smirked as she watched the flustered girl storm away haughtily and called out, "He likes red dresses and lacy underwear!"

The weapons mistress only laughed when she received a rude hand-gesture, followed by a ferocious gust of wind that almost knocked her hair down.

And blew her worries away.

.

.

_"I just want to know… if there's something going on that maybe I should know about?"_

_He was staring at her impassively, his face the epitome of expressionlessness._

_"Such as…?" he asked her slowly, his words weighing heavily upon her eager heart._

_Tenten bit her lip anxiously, trying desperately to read his non-existent expression. She hated being left out of things! She hated being lied to! It was her number one and number two pet peeves, respectively. She hated it, hated it!_

_"I don't know. I guess this whole ninja shortage thing would be a good place to start," she said, calmly as she could. She took even breaths to simmer her rising temper. For some reason, she had an ominous feeling about all the recent events that had been happening to her, and Tenten wished with all her heart that it would go away. She needed to be soothed, to feel at ease…_

_But Gaara remained silent. He was looking at her with a solemn face, and Tenten's heart fell. She though in a panic, _he's not going to tell me.

But no… He has to! I have to know—!

_"B-because, I was sent here… for a whole freaking month, for crying out loud! Doing guard duty! I just— I mean, shouldn't I have a right to know, Gaara-sa—?"_

_"Perhaps."_

_Tenten blinked, surprised at his response but taking care not to show it. She waited apprehensively for his next words, but the silence stretched on._

_"…And…?" Tenten prompted impatiently, frowning._

_Gaara sighed and pulled open his topmost desk drawer. When he withdrew his hand from the compartment, Tenten saw that he was holding a silver hourglass in a carved, three-legged stand. It looked to be about nine inches tall, attached to a matching silver chain on one side._

_"I will keep this hourglass right here, on my desk," he said, placing the small artifact on the right-hand corner of the mahogany desktop. They both stared at it for a short moment, before he continued. "You may visit my office whenever you wish during your time in this village, but I will not tell you anything regarding the shortage or other details I may or may not know about your mission."_

_His blue-green eyes flickered to her, effectively halting the retort she was about to make._

_"I will not tell you anything," he continued slowly, his voice soft enough to be carried away by a passing breeze. "Not until the last grain of sand falls in this hourglass."_

_She stared at him, confused. "But wouldn't that mean that I'd only have to wait for an hour before—?"_

_She stopped in mid-speech as Gaara turned over the silver timer, her face contorting with disbelief as a mere pinch of sand fell slowly to the bottom glass and no more. The rest in the top glass remained still, unmoving._

_"Hey! You're controlling the sand, aren't you?" she accused angrily, trying not to stomp her feet childishly in frustration. "That's not fair!"_

_He said nothing to her, and Tenten pouted in defeat. "The rest will never make it to the bottom, right?" she said dejectedly, her shoulders falling in resignation. "Is there even a chance for that last grain of sand to fall?"_

_He smiled a very small, enigmatic smile that she wasn't entirely sure was real._

_"Perhaps."_

.

.

.

_Only time will tell._

.

.

End Chapter 5.

* * *

><p>.<p>

**A/N:** Thank you so much to all of my kind reviewers.


	7. Ad absurdum

.

.

_Here's the church, and here's the steeple  
>Open the door and see all the people.<br>Here's the parson going upstairs,  
>And here he is, saying his prayers.<em>

.

.

**Hourglass**

**Chapter 6: Ad absurdum**

.

.

_"I just want to know… if there's something going on that maybe I should know about?"_

_He almost cringed at her wording. Nevertheless, he prompted her to elaborate._

_"Such as…?"_

_The girl before him bit her lip, a habit that he wished to correct somehow, and shifted uneasily. She stared at him with big brown eyes so transparent that it was all he could do not to look away. "I don't know. I guess this whole ninja shortage thing would be a good place to start."_

_He couldn't answer her. He couldn't tell her what it was about._

No…_ he thought suddenly, and he felt remorse._ It's not that I can't… It's that I won't.

_She must have mistaken his silence for reproach because she started to speak again with a determination so fierce it reminded him of a certain loud, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, orange-wearing shinobi._

_"B-because, I was sent here… for a whole freaking month, for crying out loud! Doing guard duty! I just― I mean, shouldn't I have a right to know, Gaara-sa―?"_

_He cut her off before she could finish the blasted title. "Perhaps," he said, and she quieted at once in anticipation._

_He was at a loss; he agreed with her on many points, for indeed, she had a right to know. But it was not his place to tell her such things. Surely, it was the Hokage's job to do so. As Kankuro had pointed out, the entire thing was Konoha's problem. There was no reason for them, or for Suna, to be involved. There was just no reason at all. Even so, Tenten deserved to know. She of all people deserved to know. Yet…_

_"…And…?" the kunoichi before him asked, impatience laced in her tone._

_Yet, he couldn't do it._

_How he wished she would never know; would never have to know._

_He wished none of it had ever happened._

_He wished he had never heard the story._

_He wished that none of it was real._

_Sighing at the frowning girl, he reached for the knob of his desk drawer and yanked it open. There was nothing he could do anyway. _It's probably for the best_, he thought, his fingers finding the chain of the silver hourglass that had been crafted many generations past. He pulled it out and held it up for Tenten to see._

_He didn't want to discourage her questions, but he didn't want to answer them either. It was the only thing he could think of to do._

_"I will keep this hourglass right here, on my desk," he said, placing the small artifact on the right-hand corner of the mahogany desktop. "You may visit my office whenever you wish during your time in this village, but I will not tell you anything regarding the shortage or other details I may or may not know about your mission."_

_He looked up in time to see the girl open and close her mouth. She looked ready to argue with him._

_"I will not tell you anything," he continued slowly, trying to keep her calm, but at the same time wanting her to understand him. "Not until the last grain of sand falls in this hourglass."_

_He could tell she was confused, and he anticipated her next words almost verbatim._

_"But wouldn't that mean that I'd only have to wait for an hour before―?"_

_Wordlessly, he reached for the hourglass and turned it over, letting a few grains fall to the bottom but lightly holding up the rest with his chakra._

_"Hey! You're controlling the sand, aren't you? That's not fair!"_

_He said nothing, but kept his eyes on her. It wasn't his intention to withhold the information from her for all of eternity. But for now… it just wasn't the right time._

_"The rest will never make it to the bottom, right?"_

_Her dull, sorrowful voice snapped him out of his musings. He felt another twinge of guilt, but no matter what, nothing could be done. He just wasn't the right person… and it just wasn't the right time, not the right place, not the right… anything. He fought the urge to look away from her sad eyes._

_"Is there even a chance for that last grain of sand to fall?"_

_He wondered himself. Would he really tell her? …Could he?_

_But he knew she was persistent. There were twenty-five more days left of her stay in Suna, and he could already imagine how many times a day she would pop in to check the hourglass. The thought brought a small, involuntary smile to his lips. Maybe he would let a few fall each day, if only for her benefit._

_"Perhaps."_

.

.

"You are to leave at once. Understood?"

There were two shadows in the darkened room, one sitting behind an impressive mahogany desk and the other standing in front of it, head slightly bowed. The only ray of light peeking through the folds of the black curtains on the left window glinted like a diamond off of the frame of a silver hourglass positioned on one corner of the desk.

"Yes, Gaara-sama."

Gaara watched the man standing before him with cold, calculating eyes. Surely there was a reason why he was looking so troubled?

"Is there something about this mission that bothers you?"

Yaoki's eyes widened momentarily in surprise before shaking his head vigorously. "N-no, Gaara-sama!" he denied with a nervous chuckle, "Not at all!"

Gaara's impassive stare proved that he was not convinced in the least and Yaoki's pathetic façade dimmed as his face fell.

"Um, It's just that I…" the young man scratched his head bashfully, directing his gaze to his feet. "I met this girl, Tenten-san…"

Gaara's ears perked at the mention of the weapons mistress, his curiosity piqued ten-fold.

"Um… I asked her to meet me tonight, but now…" Yaoki stared harder at his feet, looking sullen. "I was wondering if―"

"I'll tell her," said Gaara. He was studying Yaoki with a thoughtful eye, all too aware that his offer had come as a surprise. There was an idea brewing in the back of his mind― one that both pleased and puzzled the Kazekage.

"T-that would be great, Gaara-sama!" the chunin replied in wonder, bowing low. He bowed a second time before excusing himself, leaving the brooding Kazekage alone with his thoughts.

Tenten.

There were so many things that he suddenly wanted to know about her. What clan was she from? How come she had no last name? Did she have brothers and sisters? Was she the firstborn of her family or the last? How well could she fight?

Even her name was an enigma. Tenten. What did it mean?

What was more confounding was his newfound interest in the girl. Was it sympathy for her situation that was encouraging his curiosity? Pity, perhaps? Or maybe it was a genuine want for her friendship?

Gaara did not know.

.

.

Liquid chocolate orbs glared at the empty horizon stretched out before her. She was perched precariously on the edge of the tower, legs dangling in fearless abandon. She had been in a rather surly mood since waking, and Tenten felt the old habits before Team Gai beginning to resurface. She had never been an early riser by nature, but rather, it was learned by years of practice. Being in Team Gai required waking with the crack of dawn, the reason being "to fully expend the fire of youth so that it may blossom into a blazing inferno, one which cannot be extinguished." Gai's words, of course.

A pang of longing shot through her and blended with the self-pity she had woken with in the morning. It was a terrible feeling, to both miss your home and loathe it. Tenten could not shake away the feeling of betrayal that was threatening to consume her. It was true that she had no proof― after all, she didn't know _anything_. But still… why was it that her life was so pathetic?

First, she was thrown away like a rock by her boyfriend of about three years, and then now she was stuck in Sunagakure, hottest _effing_ place in the world, doing the_ lamest _mission in the world, while also currently having the most _intense _pity-party in the whole freaking universe.

Basically, this day sucked so far. _And it's about to get worse_, Tenten thought darkly, remembering the promise she made to Yaoki. Why had she agreed to see him later tonight again?

_And then I also have to apologize to Matsuri for not showing up for training yesterday… Ah, my life!_

Rubbing her aching forehead, Tenten sighed and for once resolved to actually do her duty and watch the northern border. It was her mission, after all. She stubbornly refused to think it was anything otherwise. Tsunade-sama wouldn't lie to her… She had told Tenten that she was to help Suna out with their border patrol… because of the ninja shortage…

The shortage nobody else seemed to be aware of.

"GYAAAH!"

Her frustrated cry was enough to send a couple of nearby birds on the tower soaring to the sky in surprise.

Slumping forwards in defeat, Tenten clutched her telescope and miserably pointed it to the barren expanse. She really needed to take this guard duty thing more seriously… after all, she was representing Konoha for all of Suna to see…

…And there was Tsunade-sama― the legendary, supreme, beautiful, powerful Godaime Hokage… Her idol… Tsunade-sama was counting on her to do a good job on this…

… She had even complimented her on her long-range techniques… and she'd said that only Tenten was suitable for this job… that only Tenten would do…

…Sweet, kind, Tsunade-sama… wouldn't… lie… to… her…

…Right…?

.

_The fairgrounds was a barren, abandoned place littered with trash and scraps of paper. Everything was black and white, from the gravelly walkway to the unhinged billboard signs; even the sky overhead was a dark gray. There was an ominous creaking noise coming from the frozen carousel to her left, the colorless animals of the ride looking eerie with their blank, faded eyes. To her right, there was a tall statue of a paint-chipped clown. Its empty gaze seemed to follow her every move…_

_Tenten wrapped her arms around herself as a strong gust of wind blew by, blowing the litter and agitating the creaking noises of the fairground. Fear was slowly creeping through her. Where were her friends?_

_"Psst… Over here…"_

_The wispy voice startled her, and Tenten whirled around, looking frantically for whoever was watching her. Her eyes settled on the black-and-white striped tent near the statue of the clown, the folds of the entrance swaying mysteriously. There seemed to be nothing but darkness inside._

_"Yessss, that's right… over here… come, come…" the same voice urged in a carrying whisper that brought chills down her spine._

_Tenten shivered as she drew near. She stopped several feet away, trying to peer through the dark depths of the opening. "H-hello?" she called out, afraid._

_"Come in… come in… we are all inside… waiting for you…"_

_Tenten stayed where she was, tears gathering in her eyes. "Where are my friends?" she asked as another breeze blew by, hugging herself tightly. "Who are you?"_

_"Come closer, dear…" the mystical voice urged from within the black depths of the shadowy tent. "Come, come… do not be afraid…"_

_She took a small step forward hesitantly, looking left and right around the deserted fairgrounds for her companions, a last futile effort._

_Just then, her senses picked up on another presence. Tenten could hear approaching footsteps from behind her and she froze. That chakra― why was it so familiar?_

_"Quickly!" the wispy voice commanded sharply as another chilling breeze swept by, flapping the folds of the dark tent and bringing a stale, stagnant smell to Tenten's nose. The footsteps were fast approaching now… any second and it would reach her―_

_Suddenly, a pale, slender hand shot out from within the dark tent. The long, cold fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist and Tenten gasped as she felt herself being pulled forward inside slowly, into the unknown…_

_"Tenten."_

_Another hand grasped her by the shoulder from behind, tugging her back gently but urgently. It was a large and reassuring hand, and a comforting warmth spread throughout her body like wildfire at the feel of it. The pale, cold hand on her wrist jerked back as if burned and receded silently back into the black depths of the shadowy tent._

_Tenten whirled around to face her savior―_

_Pale white eyes and long, dark brown hair. Her heartbeat quickened._

_Neji―!_

"ARGH!"

Tenten's eyes shot open as she made contact with the cold, hard floor of the tower. Her cheek brushed roughly against the ground before the rest of her body followed suit. She sat up after a moment, groaning from her fall and cradling her sore cheek.

Rubbing her eyes drowsily, the weapons mistress took in her surroundings and uttered a curse._ Damn it! Keep up this crappy job, Tenten, and it'll only be a matter of time before someone finally catches you in the act! _she mentally berated, getting to her feet and almost growling in anger. How had she fallen anyway? Tenten could vaguely remember that she'd had a dream of some sort, but she could not recall any details…

Grumbling, Tenten dusted her clothes off and grudgingly thanked the higher beings that she'd fallen in the tower instead of out of it. If she'd had her doubts before, she was fairly convinced of it now: there was something about guard duty that just absolutely wrecked her concentration. That, or she had some weird kind of allergy to it― one that made her extremely drowsy and incompetent.

Tenten scanned the sky and quickly calculated the time by gauging the position of the sun. She sighed in relief when she determined that she only had a half hour to go and resolved with a ferocity that would've made Gai-sensei proud to keep vigilant on the northern expanse.

Thirty-minutes later, the weapons mistress hopped down from her perch, fairly pleased with herself. A half hour she could do, but hours… and days…

"Hi there!"

The pleasant voice broke Tenten free of her miserable thoughts. She looked up to find an unfamiliar face and cocked an eyebrow. A man, perhaps only a couple of years older than her, was standing at the top of the tower stairs. He had on Suna's standard shinobi attire and donned the turban-like headgear some wore to protect themselves from the heat.

"Who are you?" Tenten asked, foregoing the pleasantries. Where was Yaoki?

Fortunately, the man did not seem bothered by her rudeness. He offered her a small smile. "I'm Korobi. Yaoki got called out on a mission, so I'm taking his place."

Tenten fought the urge to tap dance on the spot. She didn't have to see him tonight! Yes!

"Ah… I see…" she said slowly trying to cover up her relief. Then, belatedly realizing her fault added, "Oh, and I'm Tenten, by the way."

They shook hands briefly and exchanged more pleasantries before Tenten excused herself. She had made the mistake of not showing up for training without telling Matsuri yesterday and she refused to be late today.

After all, Gai-sensei had never been late to any of Team Gai's early morning training sessions and impromptu gatherings. He had also never failed to tell his students whenever training was to be cancelled.

As sensei, Gai's attendance had been spectacular. As sensei, Tenten's attendance was terrible. Seriously, what kind of teacher would leave a student hanging?

_A bad one_, Tenten thought bitterly as she sprinted towards Suna's Academy. A gnawing guilt grew within her with every step she took. _If Matsuri's not there, well… I don't blame her. I would be mad too, if I had to wait for my sensei, and realize later that no one was planning to come…_

As she neared the entrance to the training grounds, Tenten was able to detect a presence within. Her guilty mood lessened considerably and she was all smiles as she rounded the last curb and practically flung herself inside the place―

"Sorry to keep you wait―!"

The words died in her throat and she came to an abrupt stop as her eyes met, not brown, but blue-green. She struggled to shut her mouth in an attempt not to gawk. What was _he_ doing here?

Gaara stared back at her impassively as he stood in the center of the grounds, his arms folded against his chest as he considered her with a careful eye.

"Will you spar with me today?"

The softly spoken question caught Tenten off-guard and she stared back at the redhead in wide-eyed disbelief. "With _you_?" she spluttered, a strong wave of trepidation washing over her. At the same time, Tenten couldn't help but feel the familiar flame of excitement igniting her senses― she had always loved challenges and Gaara, if anything, was _most definitely_ a challenge. The final outcome, they both knew, would be in Gaara's favor.

He said nothing back in response and merely waited and watched for her decision.

_Even if I get my ass handed back to me,_ thought Tenten, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as she reached for her scrolls,_ I can't help but want to try…_

Deciding that other questions could wait until later, Tenten took her battle stance and grinned.

"You're on."

.

.

Meanwhile, back in Konoha…

… there was a peeping-tom…

Sakura Haruno smirked devilishly at her new discovery, resisting the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. Like the rest of Konoha, she'd always assumed that Ino and Shikamaru were just really close teammates. The sight in front of her, however, screamed otherwise. Really close or not, there were just some things that could not be done within the boundaries of mere friendship. This qualified as one of those boundary-hopping things. This was definitely _way_ out of friendship― or according to Sakura, anyway.

It was obvious that Team Ten was having what was commonly known as a "team date." When teams began to see less and less of each other, such things were almost mandatory in order to keep the original team's bonds intact. It was rare nowadays for the original trio make up of the Konoha Eleven to go out on missions together. Sakura knew how many high-ranked solo missions Shikamaru had to take as a jonin, often leaving his two comrades stuck with other team formations. Sakura also knew that it would be rude and upsetting to interrupt a team date― because, after all, it was a rare time for all of them to just be together― but this… this was just gold. Biting down a laugh, the pink-haired medic made a mental note to tell Choji what his two friends did behind his back.

It was almost a picturesque outing― a quiet lakeside picnic on a sunny day, everyone lying on the banks in peace, wet and exhausted from swimming…

Yet it was interesting to note here that while one member of the team was, indeed, sleeping― Choji― the other two were… not.

Ino was in one of her sinful red bikinis, sitting directly in front of an equally red Shikamaru with her back to him. While she was busy tying up her hair into a bun, Shikamaru was fumbling with the ties of her top. Wide-eyed, Sakura watched as the flimsy red bra was tossed to the side, mentally cursing Ino for her stupid C-cups. The Nara, meanwhile, was looking up to the Heavens, probably mentally praying for strength and simultaneously whining about troublesome women. At least he wasn't trying to sneak a peek.

The blonde lowered herself to her towel and Shikamaru began to spread suntan lotion on her back, his expression a bit dazed and irritated at the same time.

Sakura bit back another laugh._ This is just… so wrong._

She and Naruto were fairly close teammates as well, but she would never, _ever_ ask the ramen-loving idiot to put suntan lotion on her bare back, much less take off her bikini top.

_And they call themselves friends_, Sakura thought giddily. She'd attack the blonde girl with a million questions as soon she was alone in her family's flower shop.

Again she wondered whether or not the two actually had underlying feelings for each other that transcended mere friendship and familial affections but were just too stubborn to admit it.

Sakura watched, amused and albeit a little jealous, as Shikamaru ran his large hands down the blonde's back gently, making her shiver. The fondness was apparent in the lazy genius's eyes and he was treating her with an air of fragility, as though she would break if he pressed his hands down too hard. They were radiating the contentment of two people who trusted each other wholly and unconditionally, and though the position was without a doubt provocative, there was no lewd lust or fervent desire between the two teammates. If not for their current situation, it really looked as if… as if they were merely two friends enjoying the company of one another.

Sakura fought the urge to sigh in frustration. She was back to square one! What exactly was going on between those two? Could it be that they really were nothing more than just… friends?

Pushing away from her hiding place behind a bush, Sakura wandered back to the main road and let her concealed chakra relax. She had been on her way to see the Lady Hokage about the "Tenten problem," as they called it, when she had sensed her friends nearby.

As the pink-haired kunoichi continued on to her destination, she concluded that the relationship between Ino and Shikamaru was perhaps even more mysterious than what was behind Kakashi-sensei's mask. Wrapped up in her thoughts, she was blissfully unaware of dark obsidian and baby-blue eyes turning towards her general direction before she completely vanished from their sight.

"Okay, Shika, you can stop now," Ino singsonged in a cheerful voice. She made to sit up, but Shikamaru shoved her back against the towel.

"Oi, oi! Don't just get up, you're naked!"

"Then look away, geez!" the blonde huffed indignantly.

Shikamaru rubbed his forehead in an attempt to soothe the incoming headache. "Che… this was so unnecessary…"

"Hey, it's her fault for peeking!" Ino exclaimed, smirking mischievously while her teammate rolled his eyes.

"What was the whole point of that anyway?"

"Nothing…" the kunoichi began innocently, though there was a tell tale up-to-no-good gleam in her brilliant blue eyes. "I just wanted to mess with her head! Nyahahahaha! Billboard-brow's so simple, I bet I could guess what she's thinking right now!"

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed, flopping on his back to stare up at the clouds. "So troublesome…"

.

The peeping-tom did her best not to fidget while her moody sensei stared her down. Shizune was standing nearby, her lips pursed tightly in disapproval. The tense atmosphere in the room could hardly be lost on anyone.

"Keep an eye on Lee."

The intensity of those words froze Sakura on the spot. Her wavering gaze could not pull away from the severe brown orbs of the Godaime Hokage.

"Ma'am?" she squeaked, trying to rack her brains as to why she had to keep an eye on the second hyper-active green beast of Konoha.

Tsunade raised a hand to massage her throbbing head but said nothing. This entire affair was taking a toll on her, and really, was it even that big of a deal? She'd been asking herself that question more and more recently, and she'd even been considering pulling Tenten out of her "mission" to finally divulge the truth, just to finally, _finally_ get this damned thing over with once and for all―

But no. She couldn't. She_ wouldn't_. Or not right now, at least. It just wasn't the right time.

What she'd do for a bottle of sake at the moment…

After a long stretch of silence, Shizune finally spoke up softly from where she stood, shooting wary glances at Tsunade as she did so. "He's getting restless… the worst case scenario would be him running off to Suna to tell Tenten."

Sakura's eyes widened. _Of course! He's Tenten's teammate, duh!_

It was logical indeed to assume that out of all who knew and cared, Lee was the most likely candidate for what the Hokage had termed "the first one to break." He was one of the few closest people to the weapons mistress after all. That, and Lee was the kind of person who was always worried about those he cared deeply for.

"I… I see…" Sakura managed to choke out. The direction of this conversation was steering into a place she'd rather not venture.

Tsunade finally raised her head, her steely gaze penetrating the antsy girl before her. "Make sure he doesn't leave Konoha while everyone is busy with preparations," she commanded.

"But… what could_ I _do if he really does try…?" Sakura asked worriedly. Sure, she had some things going for her, like her great chakra control, but when it came to speed… well― let's just say she wasn't exactly a running girl. And what's more, she had to catch_ Lee_? Who was the Godaime Hokage kidding?

Tsunade's voice filtered through her ears and Sakura stood rapt with attention. "I already have Gai watching him," said Tsunade, frowning. "… but then again, Gai is a bit… you understand?"

Sakura nodded solemnly. Everyone knew that when push came to shove, it was more likely that Gai would choose to encourage his little mini-me than actually try to stop him. A flash of silver was thrown at her suddenly and Sakura caught it with the reflexes of a trained shinobi. She stared wordlessly at the object in her hand― a silver whistle― and gave her sensei a questioning glance.

"If he still manages to escape somehow, use it," Tsunade explained shortly.

"Wh-what for?"

"It's a whistle that'll send our fastest ANBU operatives to chase after him."

Sakura froze while Shizune looked outraged. "_ANBU!_ But, _why?_ Tsunade-sama, don't you think at this point it would be easier to just tell Tenten everything?"

Tsunade sighed, her shoulders slumping wearily. There it was again, that same question plaguing her over and over without fail, whether it be from herself or her subordinates… Perhaps she really was making a big deal out of this…

But then her thoughts took her back to _that day_… the cursed memory of _that day _refused to wash away from her mind…

"No," answered Tsunade firmly. She was stubborn about this. "Maybe someday, but not right now. _Especially_ not right now. Do I have to remind you what happened last time?"

As memories of _last time _engulfed the three people in the office, all other arguments died down.

And that was that.

.

.

.

_And here she is too, praying the same prayers,  
>And then down she goes on those very same stairs.<br>She opens the door but there are no people,  
>There is no church. There is no steeple.<em>

.

.

End Chapter 6.

* * *

><p>.<p>

**A/N:** Guys! Hold on for a little bit longer, yes?

Oh, and NO, they are not planning a surprise birthday party for Tenten. Sorry to burst your bubbles. :c


	8. Oneiromancy

.

.

__One day you'll wake up and see  
>The person you've turned out to be<br>And wonder what happened to  
>The sweet, innocent child in you<em>_

.

.

**Hourglass**

**Chapter 7: Oneiromancy**

.

.

It was a little after noon and the sun was shining high in the sky. He was on his forty-sixth lap around the village and even though his mind wasn't paying attention, his feet were automatically taking him around the well-traveled route.

Tenten had been gone for a week now. Everything was going smoothly— far _too _smoothly, in fact. He was torn between the feeling of relief and bitter resentment. On one hand, he was glad that all was going according to plan. He entertained thoughts of everything smoothly coming together, of Tenten being none the wiser, of her oblivious return to Konoha, of everything returning to _normal_ three weeks from now…

But all the same, he couldn't help feeling outraged on her behalf. It inexplicably angered him whenever he saw their friends laughing and enjoying themselves on the streets, having time to be with one another and bearing no guilt while Tenten labored in Suna, wholly ignorant of the entire situation at hand… wholly ignorant of _her problem_.

"Lee! Why have you stopped?"

He snapped out of his musings and looked around. Gai-sensei, previously at his side, was now several paces ahead of him, jogging backwards. Lee realized that his speed had slowed immensely, though he was still moving at a considerably fast rate.

"I'm sorry, Gai-sensei!" he bellowed, speeding to catch up, "I will run an extra fifty laps as punishment!"

Gai frowned at him but said nothing as they resumed their warm-up. Lee could feel his sensei watching him closely and was pretty sure that his face was giving everything away. Gai-sensei knew him better than anyone, after all.

"It would be unwise, Lee," said Gai after a few moments.

Lee hung his head, knowing that his sensei was not referring to his extra fifty laps. Of course it was unwise. Deliberately going against the orders of the Godaime Hokage could very well be interpreted as treachery, good intentions aside.

"Yes, Gai-sensei," he said, forcing himself not to think on the subject any more.

.

.

Embarrassing wasn't the word. Humiliating couldn't even begin to describe it. The fact that there was no word in existence to describe her pathetic struggle was descriptive enough.

Several feet away, Gaara watched her impassively. He'd been waiting for her to break free from his sand trap for a good twenty minutes now (Tenten had to commend him for his patience). He'd asked her a little while ago whether she was willing to admit defeat, but she'd adamantly refused.

_Never! I'll never give up!_ Tenten thought determinedly. She glared daggers at her redheaded foe, noting bitterly that he stood amidst the entirety of her weapons supply.

"You are _so_ dead when I get out of here!" Tenten fumed, red from both the humiliation and the scorching heat. The sand was hot and scratchy against her skin and a slow, uncomfortable trickle was making its way down the front of her blouse. She felt like she was being cooked alive.

Gaara merely raised an eyebrow at her and made to sit on the ground— presumably to see how much longer she could last.

The nonchalant gesture infuriated her even further. Though they had both been mindful of the inevitable outcome, neither of them could have predicted her stubborn fury. Sure, Tenten admitted to herself, she was no sore loser. But then, she'd never expected to be beaten _so badly_ not even ten minutes in. In many ways, she'd done worse than Matsuri had with her during their first spar together.

_At least now I know how she feels_, Tenten thought sullenly. It was a life lesson, a sort of noble feat, perhaps, to be humbled in such a derogative way. She had never been one to set herself on a high pedestal, but she'd also never let an opportunity to milk her strength pass against a much weaker opponent. _But then, I've never underestimated nor overestimated myself_, Tenten reasoned, only vaguely aware of the amount of sand that was now pouring in inappropriate sections of her clothes. _I'm just honest about my own strength!_

A small voice in her head mocked her then. _Honest? You? If you're so honest, then what the hell are you doing?_

_Persevering in an otherwise impossible situation. Gai-sensei would be so proud._

The voice snorted. _Who do you think you are? Lee? Just hurry up and admit defeat, o honest one._

_Never! _Tenten shot back furiously. It occurred to her then that she was having a mental conversation with herself. It was the Suna heat; Tenten was convinced that the sun's relentless rays somehow affected her differently in Suna. It explained everything perfectly— her incapability of keeping her eyes open during guard duty, her crabbiness, her agreeing to go on a date with Yaoki, her one-sided conversations, her degrading combative skills, and why she felt the need to reason out her sanity…

"Alright! FINE! Get me out of here!" Tenten yelled. She had barely finished her declaration of defeat when she felt her body rise from the ground. The sand was loosening its binding hold on her and falling into an innocent looking heap at her feet. Tenten glared at it, giving a good kick and scattering sand in the air.

She couldn't look at Gaara in the eye as she sent out her chakra strings to start packing away her weapons. There was an uncomfortable silence as Tenten tried determinedly to ignore her stronger adversary and she flinched horribly when silent footsteps started towards her. She turned her back to him, scowling when she heard his low voice.

"You were clearly at a disadvantage."

"I don't need your pity!" she snapped passionately, but froze suddenly upon remembering just whom she was talking to and added a stiff, "Kazekage-sama."

She couldn't say for sure since she was forcing herself not to look, but Tenten swore she could feel him rolling his eyes.

"I suck, okay?" Tenten spat irritably, more annoyed with herself than Gaara. "Let's all just acknowledge the truth and not say anything about it anymore."

After all, she had been the one to accept the challenge in the first place, even while fully knowing that her chances of winning were zero to none from the start. Gaara had done nothing wrong at all; she was the one with the problem. Tenten knew this. Still, her competitive spirit was adamantly keeping her pissed off regardless of her conscious realization of the facts. Was she really so weak?

"I don't think you suck, Tenten-sensei."

She whirled around furiously. "I said I don't need your pi—!"

Tenten's eyes fell on a short, red-faced girl and she froze abruptly as panic bubbled in the pit of her stomach. "_Matsuri?_ H-how long have you been here?"

"Um, a little while ago," the girl mumbled softly, keeping her eyes downcast. "I saw… that move that you did…"

As Matsuri shuffled her feet, Tenten chanced a nervous glance at the Kazekage and was shocked to see him looking so relaxed. Had he known that Matsuri was watching them spar? If so, why didn't he let her know? He had been the one to tell her to keep her fuinjutsu a secret from the girl. She distinctly remembered him telling her how Matsuri was frightened of weapons, and yet he'd let the girl watch her speed-summon her entire arsenal like silver rain on the battlegrounds…

And why was it that she failed to notice her own student's presence? Just how absorbed had she been to not notice Matsuri's arrival?

Tenten opened her mouth to reply, but Gaara shook his head to quiet her as Matsuri began to speak once more.

"I'm sorry, Tenten-sensei… I should have been honest with you from the start. But the truth is… I'm really afraid of weapons!"

Tenten regarded the bowing girl before her with surprise. She never imagined Matsuri would be brave enough to confess to her directly. Nor did she imagine how formal her confession would be. She floundered for something to say, trying desperately to fight down the blush rising in her cheeks while simultaneously trying to avoid the penetrating blue-green eyes watching her. She'd never been regarded so highly before in her life. Tenten couldn't recall ever having someone bow so low to her… Well, no, that wasn't exactly true. Lee always bowed low to her, but he hardly counted. He was always too formal and polite to everyone including her, even though he was her best friend, for crying out loud.

"Thank you for telling me." She paused and inclined her head slightly. "And also, I'm sorry for not showing up yesterday."

Matsuri straightened up slowly. "It's alright, Tenten-sensei," she said earnestly. "I figured you must've had something important to do."

Now she really couldn't look at Gaara. It was on the tip of her tongue to confess to Matsuri that _no, actually, I only forgot_, but decided against it. Instead, she guiltily resolved to never miss a training session ever again.

"Tenten."

The low voice almost made her jump. She looked up at Gaara guiltily, trying to ignore the foreign chills she was getting from hearing him say her name. Was he going to point out her mistake and force her to apologize to Matsuri? Somehow, she was reminded of her Academy days.

"I sent Yaoki out on a mission," he said stoically, not knowing how much of an idiot he was making her feel.

_Again!_ Tenten thought, furious with herself. _Why am I always acting like a child expecting a reprimand when I'm with Gaara?_

Matsuri looked taken aback by the random statement and stared at her sensei curiously. It suddenly dawned upon Tenten how strange it seemed that he was telling her this.

"So… I'm assuming he told you…?" Her voice sounded strained, even to her ears.

"Yes."

"Ah. Yes, well," she coughed, trying to hide her embarrassment, "I met Korobi after my shift. He also let me know."

Gaara opened his mouth— though, to say what, they would never know. Heavy footsteps were fast approaching in their direction, audible from the other side of the walls of the Academy. They turned to look expectantly at the archway and soon enough, a familiar figure emerged and passed beneath it.

"Gaara!"

Kankuro was making his way towards them with a weary look on his face. He stopped a short distance away and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Kankuro?" said Tenten, placing her hands on her hips. "What's up?"

"Hey," he said, holding up a hand in a manner of greeting. He nodded to Matsuri and she hastened to bow. "Don't let me interrupt."

Tenten waved the comment aside. "Where's Temari?"

"She's at a meeting right now with some of the other jounin," Kankuro answered curtly. He turned to face Gaara, looking very uncomfortable.

"Um, Gaara, can I talk to you for a second?" he said, shooting wary glances at the girls and adding an emphasized, "_Alone_?"

Gaara merely raised an eyebrow at his brother's actions and moved to follow, giving a short nod of farewell to their curious audience. Tenten and Matsuri watched as they passed beneath the archway and disappeared beyond the walls of the Academy.

Tenten waited for a few more seconds to ensure that they were out of earshot before voicing her thoughts. "What the heck was that all about?"

Matsuri giggled, her cheeks coloring into a faint shade of pink. "I think I know," she said, her voice adopting a dreamlike quality that had Tenten cringing. There was something about the girl that suddenly reminded her of Ino and Sakura's Sasuke-crazy days.

"Tell me," said Tenten brusquely.

Matsuri giggled again and Tenten fought the urge to shake her violently. "Well… every year a formal meeting is held between the upper class in Suna. The only other guests invited are usually members of the village council, high ranking jounin, and of course, the Kazekage, Gaara-sensei."

There was something she was just not getting. Tenten crossed her arms, confused. The only thing floating in her mind was, _so what?_

Matsuri saw her confusion and hastened to elaborate. "They call it a meeting, but it's really just a fancy party. Those who are invited are allowed to bring a date," she explained, blushing harder.

_Ah… I see…_ Tenten smirked inwardly as she stared at the girl before her. She rapidly put two and two together and concluded that Matsuri was hoping against hope that Gaara would ask her to go with him. _But wait_, she thought suddenly, _if this is an event held every year, then surely he has already been to one?_

"This thing sounds like a real chore," she said slowly, watching Matsuri from the corner of her eye, "Don't get me wrong, but I just can't imagine the Kazekage going to one of these things…"

Matsuri fidgeted with a strand of her hair, suddenly frowning. "Well… he hasn't gone to one yet. This is the first time he'll go, I think, since he was away on a mission the last time and before that, too…"

_Yeah, I bet_, thought Tenten, biting her tongue to keep quiet. _A mission to run away and hide…_

"…And, well, I heard that the meeting is supposed to happen the day after tomorrow," Matsuri continued uncertainly, "So I'm pretty sure Gaara-sensei will still be in the village by then…"

They stood in silence for a short moment as the younger girl stared sullenly at the ground, looking discouraged by her doubts. Tenten shook her head slightly and turned away, sending out chakra strings from her fingertips.

"Hey, I know you just saw me get my ass kicked, but the day's not over yet. We can still train if you want."

Matsuri snapped to attention and brightened. "Y-yes, Tenten-sensei!"

Tenten gave her a small grin of approval and watched as her student assumed a battle-ready stance. She was still slightly curious about the entire affair with the upper class, but she knew better than to pry. _Besides_, Tenten thought, pulling her kodachi from the ground, _this is Suna's business, not mine._

.

"I'll just go on another mission."

"No, not this time."

"Then I'll just decline the invitation."

"You can't do that either."

"And why not?"

"You just can't," said Kankuro, feeling thoroughly exasperated. It was at times like this that he really felt like an older brother chastising his younger sibling. He had known beforehand that Gaara would be stubborn about this, but he'd promised Temari, and Temari was… well… scary.

He'd never admit it, though.

"Gaara, you can't keep making the same excuse," Kankuro tried to reason, "You've got to go sometime, otherwise they'll get offended and they'll start talking. You _know_ how those people are. They can be a real pain, especially to _you _because—"

He broke off abruptly and tensed, realizing the direction his little speech was taking. He back-pedaled at once. "I just don't want them saying anymore bad things about you, okay?"

Gaara stared stonily at his brother, his arms folded tightly against his chest. He saw Kankuro's point, but he still didn't see why he absolutely had to go to the blasted affair. He already knew the importance of developing bonds with his people. Uzumaki Naruto had taught him that. But even so, he was just not a people person and he knew that it was likely he would remain that way for the rest of his life. The upper class was among those who still harbored feelings of animosity towards him and Gaara knew that presenting himself to their little gathering would reflect well on him, if anything. He'd failed— purposely— to show during their previous events in the past and he was running out of excuses to avoid them.

He closed his eyes. "Fine," he snapped irritably, causing Kankuro to sigh in relief. "If that's all…"

He turned to leave but Kankuro called him back. "Wait! I almost forgot to tell you— Temari said to bring a date."

Gaara whirled around in furious shock, "_What?_"

But Kankuro was already fleeing the scene, jumping among rooftops until he was no longer visible.

.

"That's it? That's all he said about it? '_Fine_'?"

Temari stood with her hands on her hips and her eyes pointed up towards the ceiling in aggravation.

They were standing in the empty conference room, the meeting having just concluded. The other jounin had been dismissed only moments before.

Kankuro shrugged. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"And about the date?"

"Um, nothing," Kankuro lied, skillfully avoiding her inquiring gaze. He didn't want her to know how he'd run for his life after telling Gaara he'd have to bring a date. He could feel Temari narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion, but thankfully said nothing.

He watched as she began to pace in front of him, no doubt concocting several plans in her head.

"I don't know why they made it mandatory this year," Temari scowled, "But there are no singles allowed. And… if Gaara's going, we'll have to go too."

Kankuro nodded. "Yeah, I know." There was no way they'd let Gaara go in alone.

Temari raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant agreement. "Oh? Who're you planning on going with, then?"

"Tenten," he replied casually. He ignored his sister's smirk and shrugged, trying to maintain his cool. "Only as friends, obviously. Besides, she'll be the least awkward one to ask."

More to wipe the smirk off Temari's face than anything, he snapped, "Well, who are _you_ going with then?"

Though he'd achieved the desired effect, her mood turned rather surly. "None of your business," she snapped back, resuming her brisk pacing around the room. "Anyway, since it's obvious Gaara's not going to ask anyone, why don't we look around for someone who'll be willing to go with him?"

"You mean… we're going to _set him up?_" Kankuro said incredulously. "Look, we've already got him agreeing to go to this damn thing, so let's not piss him off."

"Haven't you been listening? A date is _mandatory_."

"Yeah, but Gaara's the _Kazekage_. Can't they make exceptions for him or something?"

Temari sighed and folded her arms. "You know what? You're right. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of this."

Kankuro resisted the urge to do a victory dance. "The important thing is that he's going, date be damned."

They fell silent for a short moment before Temari spoke again. "I just want him to make a good impression, that's all," she said in a halting voice. "I just really want them to finally acknowledge Gaara as their Kazekage."

The puppet master looked over at his sister sympathetically. Though he felt exactly the same way, there was little use in worrying about it.

"Relax," he said, heading for the door, "He'll be alright. Besides, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself right now?"

Temari frowned. "What do you mean?"

He grinned at her smugly from beneath the doorway. "Well, call it a hunch, but I don't think you have a date."

As he closed the door behind him he heard the thudding of kunai and shuriken sinking into the wood from the other side and laughed.

.

.

_She was standing in front of a striped tent, shivering as a cold gust of wind blew through the deserted fairgrounds. There was a warm, gentle hand resting upon her shoulder and she turned to look at its owner, already knowing the familiar presence._

"_Neji?" she whispered, placing her hand gently atop his. "Where are we?"_

_He was looking at her solemnly, but said nothing in reply. His eyes shifted to the tent behind her and he sighed, looking very exhausted._

"_What's wrong?" she asked, slightly panicked. She reached for him, but he drew back and shook his head. Neji closed his eyes and began to withdraw._

_The fiery warmth inside her stomach seemed to dissipate with his touch. A cold feeling of dread began to wash over her and Tenten immediately darted out to catch his hand in her own—_

_A ferocious wind blew through the fairgrounds and the flaps of the tent flew open. An old, wiry hand shot out from within its black depths and caught Tenten by the wrist with a bruising grip. She gasped at the burning chill of it and tried to break free, but it was too strong. The hand began to drag her in slowly and she was helpless to stop it._

"_Neji," she breathed in fear, "Help me!"_

_He did not move, but he opened his eyes at the sound of her voice and Tenten froze. He was looking at her with those hard, cold, pitiless eyes— it was the gaze from when they first met… and the one he'd worn when he had broken up with her…_

_She felt paralyzed. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she felt her shoulders brushing past the striped flaps, felt the darkness enveloping her like a thick cloak, her mouth open in a soundless scream—_

"_I'm sorry, Tenten."_

_It was the last thing she heard before the flaps of the tent closed, leaving her in total darkness—_

_And suddenly she was falling. As though someone had pulled the ground out from under her feet, Tenten felt her body freefalling through the darkness, her heart thudding fast. She could do nothing but brace herself for the inevitable impact—_

_The hand on her wrist gave a gentle tug upwards and Tenten was reminded of the mysterious stranger behind the twisted, old hand. She craned her neck around in the air trying to identify her captor, but it was no use. The darkness was too thick for her eyes to penetrate._

"_Who are you?" she asked the stranger falling above her, "What do you want from me?"_

_At her words, the hand's grip loosened. Tenten felt an irrational fear and fought back the urge to hold on to it._

"_I am nobody," a powerful voice answered. The low sound reverberated around them as they continued to fall and the hand holding her suddenly let go. "I only want you to open your eyes."_

_Tenten felt that she was suddenly alone in the darkness; the mysterious stranger had vanished completely. She reached for her face and found, to her great surprise, that her eyes were indeed closed. She forced them open with her fingers and the darkness faded away to reveal light. She stopped falling at once. There was a ground beneath her feet once more._

_Tenten breathed a sigh of relief and looked around her. The sky was tinted a grayish orange and a majestic sunset was slowly descending down the horizon. She seemed to be standing on a cliff somewhere. Something wet began to fall on her and she spun around to look—_

_Blood. There was blood everywhere._

_It was raining blood and there were fifteen pairs of horror-struck eyes, fifteen bloodied faces staring up at the sky. Tenten tried identifying them, but their faces were too blurry… she couldn't see…_

_A storm of red showered down upon them and Tenten turned her head to see what they were watching. She peered through the thick, red drops but it was no use. Everything was too blurry. She opened her mouth to say something, but gasped as a mind-numbing pain stole her breath away. She staggered blindly, her eyes drifting shut— the darkness was upon her again— she began to fall…_

Tenten woke with a jolt, trembling violently. She sat up and clutched herself in a tight embrace. Hysterical sobs were coming from her inexplicably. She gasped for air as tears streamed down her face, unable to breathe.

_What's happening to me?_

The dream burned in her memory— it felt so real— and Tenten reminded herself that it was nothing but a nightmare as new waves of fear coursed through her. She'd never been so affected by a dream before. She could recall everything perfectly— the fairgrounds, the tent, Neji, the rain of blood…

She shivered and buried her face in her knees. It took her a few more minutes to calm herself and have her sobs subside into sorrowful moaning. When she felt composed enough, Tenten peeled the damp covers off of her sweaty skin and took a shaky step off the bed. She gauged the time by looking out the window and concluded that it was around one in the morning; Gaara was most likely still in his office.

Tenten took a fortifying breath. The last thing she wanted was for Gaara to hear her night terrors. She fervently hoped that she hadn't woken anyone up during her unfit slumber.

She crossed the room and flung the bathroom door open, flicking on the lamp switch. She stared at her horrified reflection across the washbasin and resisted the urge to shatter the mirror into a million shards.

She was an unholy mess; wide, red eyes and tangled hair. She opened the tap and washed her face with cold water. The effect was soothing, but surprising. She felt a little bit calmer and her running heartbeat was beginning to slow. There was no way she could go back to sleep now.

Tenten leaned against the sink and pondered her options. She could always take a walk— that always seemed to help. But there was a part of her that did not want to be alone right now. In the past, she always had Neji to run to whenever she felt like this. He never minded being woken up at night to comfort her. Even Lee; though she frequented his place less often…

But who to run to now? It was one in the morning and she was in Suna. There was no way in hell she'd wake up Temari, and Kankuro was just… well, she didn't know him _that_ well.

As she stood there, frowning, it suddenly occurred to her that there was one more sand sibling— the one she always seemed to consider as her last option. It was so obvious that Tenten was surprised she didn't think of it sooner. She had already concluded that he was still in his office, so she needn't worry about waking him up.

_And I have a good excuse to go too_, she thought as she hastily put her hair up in her trademark hairstyle and changed into decent pajamas. The least she could do was try and look somewhat presentable.

.

.

He'd been about to retire for the night when he heard light footsteps out in the hallway, followed by a quiet knock on his office door. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, identifying the familiar presence.

"Come in."

Tenten, dressed down in her pajamas, shuffled in, looking around uncertainly. He raised an eyebrow at her disheveled appearance, noting the red eyes, messily put-up hair and slightly stricken look on her face. He didn't have to ask to know; he had, after all, already witnessed one of her nightmares. But Tenten didn't know that. She didn't have to.

"Um… I just wanted to check," she mumbled, staring very pointedly at the hourglass on his desk.

He looked at it too and let a pinch of sand fall. Tenten huffed indignantly, glaring at him.

"Don't do me any favors," she said bitterly. He almost smiled.

It was quite obvious how normal she was trying to seem. Despite her act, there was something dark swirling within the depths of her chocolate eyes and a hint of alarm underlying her tone. He felt obliged to ask, though he was curious nonetheless.

"What happened?"

She glared at the hourglass and mumbled, "Nothing. Just a dream."

He waited but she didn't elaborate. He narrowed his eyes as the silence stretched on between them. He raised one hand slightly, causing the sand in the bottom glass to return to the top.

"_Hey!_" cried Tenten at once, finally tearing her eyes away from the silver artifact. "You can't do that!"

"Tell me," he said, ignoring her complaints.

"I'll tell you if you tell me!" she replied, pointing at the hourglass.

It was his turn to glare at her. "No."

"Fine," she snapped.

They glared at each other over his desk. Tenten couldn't believe she'd been so intimidated by Gaara during the first few days of her stay. Now she just found him really annoying.

_I guess annoying is better than cold-blooded killer_, she thought sarcastically.

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

He was frowning at her now. His head was tilted slightly to one side, as though studying a very curious specimen he'd never seen before.

Tenten let go of a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. His question surprised her, but only slightly. It seemed there were lots of things she had yet to learn about the new-and-improved Gaara.

"I don't like being kept in the dark and I don't like being lied to… not that I'm saying anyone is lying or anything," she added quickly, "but then again, I haven't been told anything. So, for all I know…"

She trailed off as he shook his head and lowered his gaze to his desk, saying nothing. She continued determinedly.

"I mean, you didn't deny that there was something going on with the whole shortage—"

"It's much more than that."

Tenten stilled. "…What do you mean?"

He didn't look at her as he spoke. "I think you should go back to bed."

She wasn't imagining it; he was deliberately not looking at her. A tense pause filled the atmosphere between them and Tenten knew she was being dismissed.

"Then— then at least tell me this," she said, a desperate plea in her voice, "Is there a ninja shortage or not?"

Gaara closed his eyes and was silent for a very long time; but she stood her ground stubbornly.

"No," he said finally, still avoiding her gaze. "There isn't."

Tenten stared at him for a moment before saying, very softly, "Good night, Gaara-sama."

He lifted his head and watched her turn and head for the door, closing it quietly behind her. The sound of her footsteps haunted him long after it faded down the hallway.

.

.

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__Your dreams have changed and now you see  
>The world for what it's supposed to be<br>And it's too late now, it's impossible to  
>Have your innocence return to you.<em>_

.

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End Chapter 7.


	9. Prima Volta

.

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____And so 'round and 'round they go_  
><em>Where they'll end up<em>  
><em>Nobody knows<em>___

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**Hourglass**

**Chapter 8: Prima Volta**

.

.

She was avoiding him— that much was clear. Usually he caught glimpses of her around the building before she left for her shift and she'd wave or acknowledge him each time they passed. Today he rounded a corner and almost bumped into her, but she'd turned and _ran_.

Gaara frowned, folding his hands across his chest and feeling mildly irritated. She was reminding him of a time he'd rather forget, a time when people used to flee at the sight of him…

And then there was the matter of that blasted upper class affair tomorrow…

Gaara's frown deepened as he leaned heavily on his desk. He failed to see the importance of such frivolities but nevertheless knew that class politics were important in village matters. The upper class was full of very influential people with connections extending to even the elders in the council. Some things never changed in history, he supposed. While their use and purpose had been severely cut down after the war, their reputation was still highly regarded. It was something he hoped to diminish somehow— that stupid boundary between the classes.

He wondered if his appearance at their little gathering would only establish this boundary more firmly. He grimaced at the thought. If he failed, yet again, to make an appearance, they would be offended. Yet if he did, then it would only serve to boost their rank amongst the common people. He failed to see how he could come up with a solution that would emerge in his favor—that is, his desire for the class boundaries to dissipate— unless he were to take matters into his own hands without the consent of the council and pass it as a formal law. But he was already unpopular with the upper class as it was; he didn't need more opposition on his plate. It was supposedly a time of peace, after all…

A strange commotion outside his office door willed him away from his thoughts. There was an urgent knock and Gaara hastened to say, "Enter," before two harassed-looking Chunin guards burst into the room.

"Gaara-sama, there's trouble at our borders!"

He stood up immediately. "Which one?"

"The north—" one of the Chunin gasped out, but Gaara was already gone in a flurry of sand before she could continue.

.

.

_They were running through the thick woods, the darkness disabling their speed as they stumbled over unseen branches and leaves in the canopy. Their pursuers were slowly gaining on them, no doubt due to the familiarity of their own terrain._

_Lee was up front and she was taking the rear. Neji was keeping his pace in the middle with his Byakugan activated, checking to see how close they were to the border._

"_Just a little further, up ahead!" he called, prompting them to double their pace despite the risk of falling._

_Tenten reached for one of her short scrolls and let it unroll after her as she struggled to keep up with her faster comrades. She let loose a smoke screen and a stream of kunai behind her, not bothering to take aim, and felt the enemy fall back slightly._

"_Almost there," Neji said, through gritted teeth, "I can see Gai-sensei waiting for us…"_

_The rogue ninjas were close on their heels again and Tenten feared that they wouldn't make it before—_

"_ARGH!"_

"_LEE!"_

_Time seemed to stop as they watched their friend fall from the branch; ugly, twisting vines met him halfway as the enemy's trap slammed him roughly into the bark, binding him tightly to the trunk of a tree several feet below._

_Neji immediately dove to release him, but their pursuers had caught up—_

_Rough, coarse hands enclosed around her throat as a sharp pain pierced through her stomach. She fell back against a wiry chest, coughing blood, and knew no more._

"Ah…"

Tenten sat up slowly, rubbing her tired eyes and willing the dream back into the shadowy recesses of her mind. She'd had frighteningly similar dreams before, all of which featured Team Gai fleeing from an unknown enemy, resulting in their untimely deaths. For some reason, Gai-sensei was almost never in them, though Tenten supposed dreams had every right not to make sense. They were only dreams, after all.

Tenten got to her feet and stretched out her limbs. She gripped the edge of the tower and leaned out cautiously, staring moodily at the ground below. She was surprised when her eye caught something in the horizon.

It was a tiny speck in the distance, growing larger and larger as it blazed through the sand in her direction. Alarmed, Tenten made a frantic search for her telescope and pointed it northwards where the sand was swirling.

_What the—?!_

A band of five ninjas— rogue ninjas by the look of them— were running towards her tower at full speed, their identities masked by the cloths tied around their heads, obscuring half of their faces.

_Who are these people?_ she thought, leaning out of the tower to get a closer look. _They can't possibly be visitors here… could they?_ As far as she was concerned, nobody was due to arrive today from the north. No one had told her about a squad coming in and these guys were definitely not traveling civilians. Tenten watched, finally fully alert, as the one leading the group began forming hand signs.

_Hell no!_ Tenten thought angrily, gathering up her battle scrolls, _that bastard's not attacking _my_ tower!_

She almost lunged straight into battle but thought better of it. There were five of them and even with her long-ranged fighting style, Tenten didn't know what they were capable of.

_Shit! Where's that damn signal flare?_ Dropping her scrolls, Tenten dug around her pockets for the seal and activated it. A long, red streak of light shot up in the sky and exploded into a hundred red sparks, spiraling to the ground like a firework.

The rogue nins slowed their run at the flare but showed no signs of retreating.

"Where the hell is everybody?!" Tenten yelped, as a loud crash below her made the tower shake. She was under attack without reinforcements! "Hey you assholes!" she shouted, trying to buy some time, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Another loud crash brought her stumbling to the floor of the tower. "Argh!" Tenten grabbed her scrolls before they could roll out of reach and got to her feet. She had to do something before they reached her. If she let them pass, they were home free to the village's northern gates. But then…

"Whatever! I'm pissed!" With that, she leapt off the ledge, forming her hand signs— _tiger, serpent, monkey, hare, serpent_— and shooting upwards into the air, unraveling her scrolls as she went. The familiar feeling of freedom lifted her senses and for the first time in a long time, Tenten felt light and carefree. She felt her spirits soaring as the wind picked her up and her jutsu held her in midair—

"Soshoryu!"

Metal rain cascaded in a deadly storm below her, scattering the enemy's formation as they moved to avoid the attack.

"AAUGH!"

"Quick, counter it!"

She felt a strong gust of wind blow, scattering her weapons and throwing off her aim. One of the nins had activated a jutsu— a wind-type jutsu!

_Great. Just my luck! Wind elementals! _She may as well call it quits now. Hadn't she learned from Temari just how useless her Soshoryu was against wind?

"ARGH!"

She'd hit a couple of them with the clear senbon needles she'd spiked with poison, designed to target the possible spots the enemy would move to when avoiding the obvious metal onslaught of shuriken and kunai. But that wasn't enough. She was falling now as the enemy was getting up, brushing themselves off like the needles were nothing. The incorporation of poison on her weapons was fairly new— an idea given to her by Sakura— and despite being given an extremely potent formula by her pink-haired friend, Tenten hadn't had time to perfect her brewing skills.

_Damn it! I knew I should have paid more attention when Sakura was showing me how to stir the stupid pot._

What the hell did she know? Stirring a pot looked easy enough. _Apparently not_, she thought, grimacing as her feet touched the ground lightly, her opponents looking fairly fine as they advanced on her.

Oh well. She'd just have to try something else. Soshoryu might be useless against wind jutsus, but she'd developed stronger jutsus with her new and highly improved arsenal. She reached behind her, ready to hurl her big scroll out, but felt nothing. Panic began to set in as she realized she was now empty handed.

_Tenten, you big idiot!_ She'd left her big scroll back up in the tower where she'd been alphabetizing her weapons before getting bored and dumping them in a corner. And then she had fallen asleep.

In other words… she was unarmed. The rogues were starting to close in on her. She could see them falling back on their formation. She had to think, fast!

Rummaging in her back pocket, Tenten felt a small relief when her fingertips touched the wrinkled paper of her smoke bombs. It wasn't enough, but at least it would buy her even a little bit of time…

She ran towards them, faking another assault as she grabbed a kunai on the ground from her Soshoryu. With the speed of a trained kunoichi, Tenten wrapped the paper bombs around the kunai behind her back and hurled it at her attackers.

"Take this! Hyah!" A thick cloud of black smoke began to fill the field and Tenten shot to her feet, running blindly back in the direction of the tower until she broke free from the suffocating smoke. There! Doubling her speed in a way that would've made Gai-sensei proud, Tenten leaped as high as she could and began to run vertically up the watchtower.

"There she is!"

The enemy had broken free of the smoke bombs and she could hear their footsteps running after her, but it didn't matter… Just a few more steps and she could jump over the ledge and get her scroll—

"Nawa Jutsu!"

"Ah!" A long, black rope shot out from the leader's hand and the cold, sharp hook at the end caught her by the collar of her shirt and began to tug her back. Tenten lunged forward, her fingertips managing to grab hold of the ledge and winced as she heard a small tear ripping out a part of her collar.

_No… no, no, no, no, no_—! This could not be happening to her. Tenten refused to believe that she was being overtaken by some dumb thugs who though it'd be fun to pillage the village. Dumb thugs or not, five shinobi against one was still completely unfair… and she'd been careless to leave her big scroll at the tower. Although she adamantly refused to believe her current situation, Tenten could feel her grip on the uneven stone walls slipping.

_So close… Must… hold on…_

Even as she thought this, she could feel the enemy's malicious chakra trickling up the rope, slowly but surely making its way to shock her into submission. And damn it all, but she didn't even have a single sharp weapon on her to cut the line before it—

A cold, furious pain shot through her body like lightning and suddenly she was falling. She felt herself losing consciousness. But no— she was stubborn. Struggling to remain awake and bracing herself for the impact of the harsh, sandy terrain, Tenten could no longer keep the mind-numbing pain at bay.

She could no longer feel as her body fell into a strange bundle of sand much nearer than she remembered the ground being, enveloping her body like a cast… she could no longer hear as her captors opened their mouths to scream, wide-eyed with terror as a large wave of sand fell upon them… she could no longer see as her vision began to blur and her mind began to slip into darkness… though Tenten could have sworn she saw a familiar flash of red hair before the world around her began to fade away.

.

_She could hear their voices calling her name, screaming, pleading… and she hated them all. She hated each and every one of them, and her hatred grew as she flung herself up in the air, her tears blurring out the sky she was glaring up at—_

_Why me, God?_

_._

Tenten's first thought as she awoke was that she felt like throwing up... and unless she had a hangover, Tenten never felt like throwing up.

"Ugh…"

What happened to her? Her body felt like a ton of bricks and Tenten was sure she'd probably throw up for real if she dared to move her limbs. She'd fallen asleep during guard duty, some rogues came, outnumbered her… and…?

"So you're awake."

She tensed. Tenten knew that voice anywhere, but she didn't dare open her eyes. "I'm…" her voice was raspy from disuse and she cleared her throat before continuing. "I'm alive…?"

There was no response and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. Hell… her eyes were shut, so why not? Tenten rolled her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked hoarsely, after a moment of silence.

"You almost died, that's what happened."

There was such a furious, bitter edge to that sentence that Tenten couldn't help herself. She moved her head to the direction of his voice and opened her eyes to glare at him. She almost gasped at what she saw— he wasn't just furious, he was downright livid. If she hadn't been hanging around him for the past week and a half, Tenten knew she wouldn't have been able to discern the slight trembling of his shoulders, nor the tightness to his jaws as he stared her down with his penetrating blue-green orbs.

But why the hell was he mad at _her_?

She fought the urge to avert her gaze as he pushed himself away from the shadows of the corner he'd been keeping watch at— Tenten realized they were inside her bedroom— and began to close in on her helpless form on the bed.

Tenten opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out.

"Care to tell me…" he began ominously when he was standing right next to the bed, leaning down on her. "Exactly _what you were thinking earlier_?"

She gaped at him like a floundering fish, completely taken aback by his misplaced anger, until she finally found her voice again.

"_Excuse me_?" she screeched, struggling futilely to sit up as anger began flooding through her and overriding her other senses, "what I was _thinking_? I was doing what I was assigned to do… I was doing my job, protecting _your _village!"

Gaara stood up straight, his eyes never wavering from her own as his glare turned darker. He was wearing his sand gourd, and Tenten quickly deduced that he must have been the one to save her from those rogues.

"By yourself?" he spat, showing the most emotion she'd ever seen from him. "And you didn't think to call for help? Or wait for reinforcements?"

Tenten could not believe what she was seeing and hearing. To the normal observer, Gaara's face displayed a neutral expression, but those who were accustomed to his everyday expressions would know that he was completely infuriated. He was also speaking… speaking more than he'd ever spoken, as far as Tenten was concerned. At least now she knew she preferred him as a mute. But Gaara wasn't done with his little tirade.

"Did you really believe you could take on five experienced shinobi alone? Don't you know your weapons are useless against wind-natured chakra and wind-release techniques?"

She gasped, extremely hurt though she'd never admit it. He might as well have slapped her in the face.

"What the hell is your problem? You think you're better than everyone else? For your information, I did call for backup! I signaled the flare! I wasn't trying to be some kind of vigilante, if that's what you're thinking," Tenten retorted, fully incensed. "If I knew that this was the kind of thanks I'd be getting for sticking my neck out for _your_ village, then I wouldn't have bothered!"

She could feel her worn, tired body shaking with fury and the aching was all but dulled out by her anger. She'd done what she was supposed to do… and for what? All of a sudden, everything was her fault. Lately, it seemed, every damn thing was her fault. She just couldn't do anything right anymore, could she?

Gaara looked down at her coldly, unmoved by her speech. "Good. Then consider it a lesson learned."

Before she had any time to retort, he'd turned his back on her and was out of the room in three quick strides, slamming the door with an earthshattering bang as he went.

.

.

It was a slow day and Ino lounged sloppily on her seat behind the counter, indulging herself by reading the latest tabloid newspaper. She'd been avidly following the latest scandal in Rice Country involving a torrid love affair between the daimyo's wife and cousin for weeks.

She sensed someone looming nearer, the soft footsteps of a trained shinobi, and hoped that it was Sakura coming back for another chat. The pink-haired girl had stopped by earlier while she'd been on break and they'd exchanged the latest news and gossip until Sakura had to return to her shift in the hospital. Ino looked up eagerly and the newspaper slid from her fingers when she saw a familiar set of white-eyes staring stonily at her from the doorway.

Eyebrows raised, she hesitated for only a fraction of a second before prompting a perplexed, "May I help you?"

Neji Hyuuga stepped slowly into the shop, glancing indifferently at the various flower arrangements laid out on display and shaking his head. Ino shrugged in response, more to herself than him, and let the stoic Hyuuga browse their stock. She bent to pick up the newspaper on the floor and set to ignoring her strange customer with determination. Of course, she couldn't help her curiosity, and as the minutes ticked by, Ino found herself glancing more and more out of the corner of her eye to see what Neji was doing. She could barely remember the last time she'd seen him in her family's flower shop.

He'd come to a complete halt, his body frozen as he bent down to examine a display of purple heliotropes. Ino frowned and bit her tongue, replaying a long-ago memory in the back corner of her mind…

_It was a blistering hot day in the middle of July when a customer she had never seen before within the confines of her shop stepped inside._

_Neji Hyuuga, looking quite unsure with himself, stood just past the doorway with his arms folded tightly across his chest._

"_Ooooh," she'd gasped, clapping her hands together behind the counter, her dreary exhaustion with the tiring weather all but forgotten. "Is this for Tenten?"_

_He'd flinched visibly and made a sharp turn back towards the open doorway, ready to bolt—_

"_Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait—!"_

_She'd leapt to her feet before she could even process what she was doing and had taken hold of his arm. They froze for a second before Ino snatched her hand away, laughing nervously._

"_Ahaha, sorry," she said, grinning cheekily under the older boy's stoic gaze. "It's a bad habit of mine, trying to guess who the flowers are for!"_

_He avoided her gaze and muttered, "…You guessed right."_

_The blonde was absolutely floored. Well, of course she'd known she was right, but she'd never have guessed that the Hyuuga would have admitted to it so easily._

"_Well, you came to the right place then," she'd declared, wasting no time showing him around the shop and pointing out all the flowers that declared love. He didn't bother to question her assumption and let her wheel him around on the little tour. He kept silently tense as Ino explained the language of flowers and how different breeds and colors determined the meaning of each flower._

_He left the shop in a hurry a short moment afterwards with a beautifully arranged bouquet of purple heliotropes and Ino waving him goodbye from the doorway with a knowing look, beaming ear-to-ear._

She couldn't believe how different things were now. Ino grew more and more irritated as the minutes ticked by with neither word nor motion from the Hyuuga. She felt compelled to say something.

"Those foxgloves over there are really pretty," she commented airily, as though mentioning a passing thought in mere conversational chatter, "Not to mention those lobelias in the corner have grown nicely…"

The Hyuuga prodigy glared at her, too smart not to understand her implication. Ino was sure he was none the wiser as to what the flowers meant, but it seemed that he most assuredly knew she was pointing him out to those with ill meaning.

A little while later Neji stormed out of the shop with his purchase, silently and inexplicably furious that Ino didn't ask him who the flowers were for.

.

.

Gaara paced furiously in his office, his mind turning the argument over and over in his head. The girl had been foolish, no doubt, to think that she could handle all of those nins by herself. It was obvious to him now that Tenten had some sort of inferiority complex— one that baffled him at most. Why was it that she was always trying to prove her strength and abilities? Even if she wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone but herself, why was she so doubtful about her own powers in the first place?

He sighed, knowing that even if he were to confront her about it, she would never admit to his (rightful) conclusion. The girl had a whole lot of pride too.

But still! Gaara stopped his pacing and slammed a fist upon his desk. Her Hokage had entrusted her to him for safekeeping and what does the girl do? She runs off and tries to get herself killed.

But… No. That wasn't fair. He knew that Tenten had been reacting on instinct. It didn't help matters that her fellow guards on duty had been sleeping on the job (thus why nobody had responded to the flare… he'd given them quite a scolding). She'd done what she was supposed to do: fire the signal flare and engage in combat with the enemy. _But not alone_, the angry-half of him screamed. _Why didn't she wait for someone?_

_Maybe she did_, his rational-half reasoned, _but those incompetent fools on duty couldn't have seen the flare. _

It was a good thing he had extra guards watching the village parameters. But even then, most of them had been patrolling the eastern gate. He willed himself not to imagine what would have happened had Otokaze not been on watch.

His reeling thoughts slowed as he recalled the image of an injured but proud Tenten looking up at him, her eyes shining with hurt and angry tears. She'd done what she could in her situation; she stood her ground and didn't abandon her post. She'd done what most other shinobi would have done. Gaara ran his hand through his hair in exasperation, his calm rationality finally returning. Why the hell had he gotten so mad at her?

He stilled momentarily at the thought. He'd gotten so angry because…?

"She's supposed to be safe here with me," he growled under his breath, resuming his pacing. The Hokage had entrusted her to him, had given him that blasted report that was now locked inside his desk drawer.

The thought of the report stopped him in his tracks as his head pieced together something he hadn't been aware of until now. He was treating Tenten like she was some kind of helpless and fragile civilian. Was it because of…?

"Damn it all," he cursed, striding to the door and trying not to think about what he was going to do. He knew he had to make amends.

.

Tenten refused to cry, and because she was currently incapacitated, she spent all of her energy focusing on not crying. It had been more than a couple of hours since the argument and she was still burning with anger and adrenaline from being unjustly reprimanded and insulted by someone who claimed to be her 'friend.'

_Friend my ass_, Tenten thought, seething with newfound rage. _What complete bullshit. I can't believe I respected that son of a bitch when he obviously thinks I'm nothing but a worthless piece of trash._

Her life had finally come to a complete and total dead end. First her long-time boyfriend dumps her for no good reason, then she finds out her Hokage sent her on a cock-and-bull mission, and now her _good friend_ makes it clear to her how completely and utterly useless she is.

_Damn backstabber. _

She knew she was no good against five fully experienced shinobi, especially against wind elementals considering her expertise. She knew that and yet… did he have to rub it in? She wasn't some freaking amazing ninja who could drown people in a sea of sand or punch a hole through a sky-high mountain. She wasn't the apprentice or student of a Hokage or Sannin. Heck, Gai-sensei didn't even work with her that much after he fully adopted Lee as his very own apprentice. Neji, at least, had his clan techniques and training, but her… she had no one to help her. Gai-sensei trained her as best as he could, but ultimately she was left to fend for herself. She had to find her own way of specializing her weapons, of refining her techniques, and of creating them herself. She didn't have anyone who could hand her down special jutsus or clan techniques. She was a self-made kunoichi and she was damn proud of that fact. Yet, it only took a few words from the mouth of someone stronger than her to tear her down.

She knew. Tenten was aware that she was falling behind her comrades. She didn't need anyone telling her that. Everyone else in the infamous Konoha Eleven had someone to guide him or her… someone who shared clan jutsus or special techniques. Everyone but her, it seemed. It was a truth she still struggled with, one she didn't need so harshly brought to light by _Gaara_, of all people.

_Another pity-party, Tenten?_ Her inner mocked. _Aren't you worn out from all this hard partying you've been doing lately?_

The voice was right. Where did all of her confidence go? When did she begin being so… weak and unsure? Didn't she hate those kind of people the most?

_Oh god, I'm turning into someone I hate._

And just like that she was back to sucking in her breath and trying her mightiest not to let a teardrop fall. She knew where it began, no matter how hard she tried not to think about it… about _him_… He absolutely destroyed her.

_Neji_…

He was the one who she'd be running to for comfort right about now. Tenten had no one. She'd been alone for as long as she could remember. But back then she had a lot to be thankful for. At least she wasn't hated like that Naruto kid. At least she had a place to live and a bed to lie on. At least she had friends in the orphanage, most of whom were married young and are now living mundane lives as working civilians.

_Perhaps I would've done well as a normal civilian,_ thought Tenten glumly, letting out an enormous sigh once she felt safe from the unwelcome tears. _I would probably be married now like Megumi, and maybe even have some kids…_

No. She just couldn't imagine it. She'd always dreamed and dreamed about becoming a kunoichi and now that she was… she had absolutely no regrets. Being a ninja was the best thing that ever happened to her and it still prided her to know that she actually _did_ it. She worked so hard and she was rewarded for her efforts. Sure, she wasn't a natural born genius. In fact, she didn't really have much going for her other than her tenacity and stubbornness and drive to succeed. Even then, she was subpar at most. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed she was always one step behind.

But _he_… he never thought of her like this. Even when she was at her lowest, at least she could always turn to him. At least she had her teammates, her sensei, her new shinobi friends who understood the dangers they face everyday in their professions. At least she was _loved_…

Until now. She was back to where she started. No— it was worse. She had completely walked into new, uncharted territory surrounded by people who no longer cared for her. Now she really had nobody to turn to…

She wasn't close enough with Sakura, Ino, or anybody at all, really. _He_ had been her best friend… her lover and sole confidante. He was the only one she really poured her heart and soul into.

_I guess there's Lee…_

But she could only tell him so much. Lee was a happy-going and cheerful sort of person who didn't like self-pitying people such as herself. She didn't want to bring him down with all her mopey-ness… then he'd never want to hang around her anymore. Besides, she wanted to keep Lee as he was: happy and easy-going. Planting all of her problems on him would only burden him and cause unnecessary (and most assuredly dramatic and troublesome) scenes she would rather not partake in. He's definitely the kind to blow things way out of proportion. She was also quite sure that if Lee ever saw this side of her, he'd lose some respect for her as a teammate, though unintentionally. It was bad enough he saw her crying that day… and she could still remember the concerned look on his face… she hated it.

_I want to go home._

…_What a baby. Can you sound any more pathetic?_

_I don't care. I've had enough of this…_

_Tenten. You've changed._

A sharp knock on the door brought an abrupt stop to her inner struggle. She barely had time to try and identify the presence standing outside when the very person burst into the room.

Gaara shut the door quietly behind him, his blue-green eyes flickering around the room before resting on her own. There were countless emotions swirling behind his gaze and Tenten knew she could no longer doubt the fact that Gaara, the once bloodthirsty psychopath, actually did possess feelings, however undeveloped they may be.

But he was the last person in the world she wanted to see right now. Tenten eyed him warily, too exhausted to muster up a glare. She had a hunch as to what he came back for. Obviously, he was here to apologize for his rash and unjust treatment of her. The idiot must have realized that he'd overreacted.

She could see that the silence was affecting him and was spitefully glad for it. For once, he was the one fidgeting about what to say. This time, Tenten was absolutely certain that she had done nothing wrong and she knew that he knew it too.

Gaara's head was bowed down but he was looking at her through the gaps of his crimson hair. It wasn't the first time she'd noticed how much longer his hair had grown and she found she liked him better this way. The fire in the hearth bathed him in an orange glow that made him look… softer, somehow. He took a step towards her across the shadowy room and Tenten remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him.

_What am I thinking about anyway…?_

He was taking another step towards her… and another and another. Try as she might, she couldn't pull her eyes away from his intense gaze.

She could feel her heart beating just a tiny bit faster. Where was this tension coming from? He was standing over her now, his hand coming to a rest on the wooden frame of her bed.

"I'm sorry."

She stared up at him, bathed in firelight as the last of the sun sank down into the Suna sand. "Is that all?" she asked quietly.

There was a pause as they looked at each other. There was something… strange…

Gaara wet his lips, shaking his head once. "No… I shouldn't have said what I did."

Something turbulent was swirling within the depths of his blue-green orbs. Could he feel it too?

"Then why did you?" she whispered. He was standing too close...

He shook his head again. "I…"

He looked so lost and confused that Tenten felt her lips lifting into a small smile. "Did you get angry when you saw me hurt? Is that it?"

Gaara turned his head away, shocked. She'd hit the bulls-eye. That was exactly the reason but he hadn't been willing to confess that to her. How did she know?

"You remind me of someone I know."

He turned his head back to her but Tenten wasn't looking at him. She was staring out the window, looking into another time…

"He used to do the exact same thing."

Her… ex-boyfriend, then? He recalled the conversation they had of him and said nothing. So she was still mourning their break up.

"Tenten—" he began, but she cut him off.

"I'm sorry."

Gaara was stunned into silence. Why on earth was _she_ apologizing?

Her gaze was gentle and her voice soft. "I'm sorry for making you worry."

And there it was— as they stared at each other in the slowly darkening room—that feeling again… There was something different about them, around them. Neither could tell exactly what it was, but…

Why did he suddenly want to touch her?

Tenten, however, wanted nothing more but for Gaara to leave the room. She was suspicious of this feeling. She had a guess as to what it lead to and what it would start… but it couldn't be. She must be more jacked up with her meds than she thought. Perhaps she was just hallucinating. She was scared.

She became aware of his hand sliding down the bed frame, inching slowly to where her head rested.

"Gaara-sama? I… I'm tired."

His movement stopped. He withdrew his hand and straightened up, his eyes burning with such emotion that it left her throat dry.

"Of course." His voice was unintentionally husky and it sent a shiver down her spine. Gaara began to turn away, but stopped abruptly as a sudden thought came to him.

Tenten eyed him warily, watching him war with himself as he tried to sort out some inner debate. He stayed there frozen for a moment before Tenten found she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't explain it, but she needed him gone… now.

"Gaara-sama?"

Her voice snapped him back to his senses, his eyes flickering up to meet her own. They were still burning.

The words tumbled out before he could stop them.

"Will you be my date tomorrow?"

Tenten's jaw dropped. "Y-your… _what?_"

.

.

Kankuro froze outside the doorway, hand forgotten in midair, still poised to knock. He had just gotten back from a mission and, after hearing from the gossipy Isago about the events that had taken place, decided it was the perfect time for him to 'make his move' and cheer the poor girl up. However, it seemed as if he'd arrived at exactly the wrong moment. He'd just heard Gaara's question and still could not believe his ears. His brother had stolen his date.

_Not yet!_ His mind screamed, as the conversation went on behind the door, _Tenten didn't answer y—!_

"Oh, for _that_?" He heard Tenten's halting voice. It was spoken so softly, he almost missed the next part. "Well, then… alright."

Kankuro might as well have turned to stone.

Gaara asked Tenten to be _his_ date. Gaara had beaten _him_ to it.

_Gaara._

A sort of hysterical giddiness was bubbling up inside him; it was absurd. He wanted to laugh and slap Gaara on the back and shout, "Way to go!" as he felt brothers should do, but it was not an action he could do with Gaara. At the same time, he felt numb from the shock of witnessing (hearing) Gaara— _Gaara, for crying out loud_— ask a girl to be his date for a party.

And then, for some reason, he also felt betrayed that his younger brother had just stolen his— _the older brother_— date. _Gaara stole his date._

His brain refused to process this simple fact, and as he ran it over and over through his mind, his heart began to sink.

_Temari will never let me live this down._

.

.

.

____Bound by the wheels of fate they go_  
><em>Spinning with their lives at stake<em>  
><em>What will be lost? What will be won?<em>  
><em>___Who will be the first to break?_

'_Round and 'round they go…_

.

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End Chapter 8.

* * *

><p>.<p>

A/N: The next couple of chapters are going to focus on the relationship between Gaara and Tenten. It is crucial for the "secret" to be _kept secret_ until the end of the story so it may be best to keep it out of mind for now.


End file.
